Source Today Newspaper
GREAT BAY – The Common Court of Justice blocked on Tuesday February 21 attempts by the attorney-general to relocate casino owner Francesco Corallo from his place of custody at the police station in Philipsburg to Curacao.
Corallo was arrested on December 12 of last year at the request of the public prosecutor in Rome. He is awaiting an extradition hearing.
The solicitor-general reasoned that the extradition decree names the attorney-general (AG) as the central authority and that this gives the AG “a supranational status.”
The AG came to the order for a provisional arrest based on this supranational status. “This implies that the AG has the penitentiary institutions in the Caribbean part of the kingdom at his disposal,” is the argument of the solicitor-general.
The appeals court disagreed. “The AG does have certain supranational authorities, but not a general supranational authority that includes that he is allowed to execute all of his orders just like that in the country that has a public prosecutor’s office of which he is the head.”
The court ruled that transferring Corallo to Curacao would constitute a violation of his privacy. The intention to move Corallo to Curacao has not been legitimated based on a national ordinance – a requirement established in the constitution.
For these reasons the court forbade the AG to transfer Corallo to Curacao.
