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May 14, 2021
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An Interpol Red Notice for TCI attorney Peter Karam has been lifted, and a request for his extradition to Argentina to testify in court has been suspended.
On Monday, May 10, the Canadian-born attorney appeared before Argentine judge Julián Ercolini via Zoom with his attorneys and a translator.
Omar Lavieri in Argentina, told the Weekly News on Wednesday that the judge has annulled the national and international arrest warrant against Karam.
In 2019, Karam was detained on that warrant and placed on house arrest while extradition to Argentina was being discussed with local authorities.
He was later granted bail by Argentine authorities, paying a surety of 130 million pesos (about $140,000).
During Monday’s hearing, Lavieri said, Karam promised to comply with the Argentine justice system, and the arrest warrant was annulled.
The lift of the warrant and the suspension of extradition was done upon condition that the lawyer will voluntarily testify in the Argentine court.
Karam has accepted the condition imposed by the court and has been ordered to appear at the Argentine consulate in Miami every 45 days.
On Tuesday, Karam and his local lawyer Oliver Smith appeared before Chief Magistrate Jolyon Hatmin, alongside prosecutor Andrew Mitchell QC.
Efforts were made by Smith to have Karam’s passport returned to him, but this was rejected by the court, following submissions by Mitchell that the extradition is not technically at an end, as it was only suspended.
Hatmin agreed with the Crown counsel, deciding that Karam will receive his passport when he needs to travel to Miami to testify at the Argentine consulate.
He will then be required to return his passport no more than three days upon his return to the TCI.
