An alleged kingpin in the Fidentia asset-management scandal, Steven Goodwin, faces extradition to South Africa after a Pretoria High Court judge dismissed his bid to secure his freedom.
Acting Judge Piet Ebersohn on Monday dismissed with costs Goodwin’s application to set aside and declare unconstitutional a request by the South African director general of justice to United States authorities for his provisional arrest in the US.
He also dismissed Goodwin’s bid to prohibit South African authorities from applying to the US for his extradition or taking any action whatsoever in terms of the extradition treaty between the two countries pending the final outcome of two other court applications centring on the validity of the treaty.
”It would boggle the mind if a bona fide state institution could not request, on the principles of comity [of nations], another state to consider extradition of a suspected criminal to stand a fair trial in the requesting state.
”I have considered the question of human rights raised on behalf of the applicant in this matter. It is so, that, in many instances, the dictates of human rights must bow before other more important dictates like bringing fugitives to trial expeditiously lest the whole world collapsed into chaos,” Ebersohn said.
Goodwin was detained by American immigration and customs after arriving in Los Angeles from Australia in April.
He was thereafter arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, at the request of South African authorities, and is presently being held in custody in the US and awaiting deportation to South Africa.
A warrant for his arrest was issued in July last year on charges of fraud, theft and corruption.
Goodwin contended that the extradition treaty between South Africa and the US, on which the director general of justice relied, was not in force and the request for his arrest violated his constitutional rights. — Sapa