The fight to keep Rhett Fuller from being extradited to the United States continued today in the court of Justice Samuel Awich. This is because the September 20th, decision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honorable Wilfred Elrington was granted a stay and suspended by the Supreme Court, giving his defense team one last shot to convince the court that Minister Elrington made mistakes in arriving at his decision to extradite Fuller to the United States.
The government continued their opposition to what they describe as the stalling efforts of Fuller's defense team and were also in court requesting that the Minister's decision be upheld.
But that decision will not come until Monday when Justice Awich says he will make his ruling. And so as Fuller was once again ordered back to prison, and his attorney, Eamon Courtenay, and the Government's legal team left the court, the wife of Fuller, gave us an EXCLUSIVE, emotional interview about the day's proceedings.
Jim McFadzean
"You were in court today with your husband, how do you feel about the presentation made on behalf of him by defense attorney Eamon Courtenay?"
Ann Marie Fuller, wife of Rhett Fuller
"It was excellent, I even got a little emotionally, he made me cry in some instances, because he brought up things that had never really been mention before throughout the ten years of being in and out of the courts, because it was always about whether or not the evidence could be open in court for all the proceedings all the way up to privy-council. A lot of people don't know that, the courts were never reviewing the evidence, the courts were always looking at whether or not they could and then they always rule no and passed it on to the other courts. The privy-council actually ruled that yes they could have; now he has opened up a door for everybody else who will come, and I think that, that's a big stride for Belize as a nation because it's an extra safe guard to anybody that is being requested for extradition."
Jim McFadzean
"Justice Awich says, he hope that by mid-day Monday, he should be able to rule on this one last appeal."
Ann Marie Fuller
"It's hard to be confident of anything in Belize, because as the Eamon rightfully said it, he thinks is that it's extraordinary that the minister came up with some of the decisions that he came up with. Actually his words were, it's remarkable, that he was able to come up with some of the decisions, when the only evidence that was before him, in a hearing that he designed for only the applicant to attend and not the respondence which would have been the US, it's amazing to him that in the absence of any contradicting evidence - he still chooses to rule with the United States."
Jim McFadzean
"Now you had some time, your husband was in court today. You had some time to speak with him and if so what did you guys share if it's not too personal?"
Ann Marie Fuller
"Well we talked about the case, we discussed the issues of the delay because, the Ministers' ruling on the issue of the delay. That is one of the points being argued by Eamon for all these years was that Mr. Fuller actually contributed to his on delay."
Jim McFadzean
"You gathered today from the brief moment you shared with him, that he is still maintaining high hopes, still in good spirits?"
Ann Marie Fuller
"He maintains high hopes for a lot of reasons because we believe that the truth will come to light eventually. The American did not act in good faith and that is the basis of the extradition act, good faith."
Justice Awich adjourned the hearings until 9 A.M., on Monday the fourteenth.
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