The
extradition of NRI Dr. Jayant Patel from the US to Australia
PORTLAND, Ore., July 17, 2008
Rajinder Kaur
NRI Dr Jayant Patel has been ordered to return to Australia to
stand trial by U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis Hubel before July
21. The agency had begun extradition but declined to give any
details.
According to NRI press investigation, a US District Court judge
has ordered Patel's court file be kept secret, amid reports he
ordered that Patel not be handed to Australian authorities without
the court's permission.
Austraia, Queensland Police Minister Judy Spence says:
- She does not expect any problems with Patel's extradition.
But she said she did not know when Patel would return to Australia.
He is expected to board a Brisbane-bound plane with the detectives,
Darryl Johnson and Graham Walker, in the next few days.
- Patel was released from prison to the US Marshal Service in
Portland, Oregon, and he was transferred to Los Angeles, where
he is now in jail awaiting his extradition.
- The advice we have today from the Federal Attorney-General's
department, who is overseeing this matter, is that they would
prefer us to say as little as possible about the processes and
procedures involved in the extradition of Dr Jayant Patel.
The national news agency, the Australian Associated Press, reported
that U.S. marshals were expected to hand Patel over to two senior
Queensland police officers for the flight back to Australia.
Dale Ortmann, a marshals spokesman, also declined to release
any details at an evening news conference Tuesday on the steps
of the federal courthouse in Portland. Dr Jayant Patel seems to
be healthy and in good spirits.
Australia Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson confirmed yesterday:
- The detectives were on their way to Portland, Oregon, where
Patel has been held since March.
- Patel would first appear before a magistrate upon his return
- It takes about 16 hours to fly from Portland to Queensland,
though there is no confirmation of any flight details, or of
where Patel might land in Queensland.
- He refused to speculate on US media reports that he could
be back in Queensland by Friday
- Queensland's new director of public prosecutions, Tony Moynihan,
has been asked by Queensland Police to appear for the prosecution
from the first appearance.
If convicted in Queensland, he faces a maximum life sentence.
According to the news media, news.com.au- Dr Patel's outspoken
supporter, Texas-based surgeon
Dr Vijay Mehta, said he has asked Amnesty International to
monitor Dr Patel's court proceedings in Queensland as he feared
his friend would not get a fair trial.
"I hope that my fear for him getting lynched in Australia
somehow or other does not happen - so I am just praying for him,''
Dr Mehta told the ABC in Australia.
