He jumped bail and fled Belize, but today a Supreme Court Judge told the DPP that he cannot try Hassan El-Sayed for passport forgery in absentia. Last week the DPP asked Justice Adolph Lucas to try El-Sayed in absentia along with Gabby Affif who is present. Today Lucas told Director of Public Prosecutions Kirk Anderson that the case can proceed against Affif but not against El-Sayed. The main reason being that before jumping bail, El-Sayed didn't enter a plea. The DPP hoped to try the men jointly and today he called the decision a setback, not a defeat.
Kirk Anderson, Director of Public Prosecutions
"We don't consider any ruling by a trial court in the course of a trial process to be a defeat. We view it as a setback, we will appeal that decision and we will see what the Court of Appeals ultimately decides in terms of whether Mr. El-Sayed can lawfully be tried in his absence."
Keith Swift,
What was the importance of trying them together?
Kirk Anderson,
"Because in our allegation, as per the indictment, they were jointly involved in several of the crimes allegedly committed by them. So that is why we would want to have them tried jointly. It really doesn't matter to us, that significantly, whether or not he is tried along with Mr. Affif. But we think that as a matter or principle, an accused person who has absconded, deliberately flouted the jurisdiction of the court prior to trial, should not be allowed to thereby avoid the consequences thereof, meaning he should not be allowed to avoid the consequences of a trial."
El-Sayed's attorney Michel Chebat told us he doesn't know when or if his client will return to face the charges.
