Schreiber to stay... for now

Schreiber wins this round... he has been granted an indefinate stay of extradition. However, the Government has attempted to do so in such a way as to ensure that they can still wisk him away once his testimony has been given at any inquiry.

Of course, that's the number one issue at hand here... the 45 day expiry on the Nov. 15 ruling upholding his extradition order. Because you know, with the high priced lawyers he has, he's going to try and use that for yet another avenue of appeal. Once Dec. 30 passes, he's going to file yet another motion, one asking that the extradition order be quashed due to the fact that it has expired... regardless of the Government's actions to attempt to preserve it. No wonder Nicholson said he couldn't intervene... he was waiting for the Justice Department to guarentee that we could still throw the bum out after hearing his testimony at next years inquiry.

There one more important question to ask... is there any sort of "statute of limitations" on the charges Schreiber is facing in Germany? Is he just using us to "run out the clock" on charges he's facing over there?

Gov't delays extradition indefinitely
Jack Aubry and Juliet O'Neill, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen
Published: Thursday, November 29, 2007

OTTAWA -- On the eve of Karlheinz Schreiber's scheduled appearance before the House of Commons ethics committee, the Department of Justice granted the German-Canadian businessman an indefinite delay in his extradition to Germany, originally scheduled for Saturday.

In a letter to Robert Walsh, the Commons law clerk, a senior justice official wrote Wednesday that the attorney general of Canada will consent to Schreiber's application for a stay of his extradition order to give him time to appeal his case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Until late Wednesday, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson appeared to be resisting opposition calls to intervene in Schreiber's extradition process.

Donald Rennie, the assistant deputy attorney general, wrote that the government is concerned that Schreiber's extradition order will lapse on Dec. 30, once a 45-day deadline expires on a Nov. 15 Ontario Court of Appeal decision that upheld his deportation order. However, by intervening now, the government can preserve the extradition order for future action.

Meanwhile, another senior justice official wrote to Ed Greenspan, one of Schreiber's lawyers, asking him to expedite the appeal to the top court of the country by submitting the necessary paperwork by Dec. 10.

"On behalf of the attorney general of Canada, I am prepared to consent on strict terms to a judicial stay of the surrender order pending the outcome of your application for leave pursuant to 65.1 of the Supreme Court Act," wrote Nancy Dennison, senior counsel in the Justice Department.

Despite the reprieve, Schreiber is expected to ask for an adjournment today when he appears before a Commons committee to discuss his dealings with former prime minister Brian Mulroney. Alexander Sennecke, another Schreiber lawyer, said his client will likely ask for more time to properly prepare for the committee since he will have been in Ottawa less than 24 hours before his appearance.

"He might inform the parliamentary committee, you know: 'I would have preferred to have a few moments to gather my wind before I embark on open-field questions,"' said Sennecke.

The committee has already indicated that it wants Schreiber to appear next week anyway, giving him the weekend to review his papers and prepare for detailed questions, Sennecke said. He added that Schreiber does not fear contempt charges that could result from refusing to testify fully today since he is already in jail.

"He's probably looking forward to the opportunity to bring out the information that he definitely wants to bring out. But it will be in an orderly course and not in a free-for-all," Sennecke added.

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007