Tuesday September 18 2007
Police and immigration authorities are still looking for three Cubans
after Acting Chief Magistrate Asquith Riviere issued a bench warrant for
their arrest after they failed to return to court a few days after they
were granted bail on a joint immigration charge.
Jose Antonio Perez Alonso, 52, Marta Quinones Careaga, 47, and their
daughter Yaniset Perez Quinones, 19, were granted $15,000 recognisance bail.
They were also ordered to make a $5,000 cash deposit each with one
surety when they appeared in the Magistrates Court a few weeks ago.
Upon granting their bail, the magistrate outlined certain conditions
including reporting to the St John's Police Station twice per day,
everyday before 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and to give 72 hours notice to the
court if they intended to move from where they lived.
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The three failed to report to the police station a few days before their
court date and did not appear in court last Wednesday.
The three reportedly moved from their place of residence without
notifying the court, police and immigration.
Since they didn't live up to their bail expectations, the cash deposits
of $5,000 for each were forfeited. Magistrate Riviere exercised great
discretion and did not ask the surety to pay the $15,000 recognisance
after learning that she only stood for the three defendants upon the
request of her employer.
It is alleged that the trio entered Antigua on the 5 June on a
four-week-visitor's permit. On the 3 July, they left Antigua for Santo
Domingo.
They never boarded that flight and instead boarded another which was
scheduled for St. Maarten and later St. Croix. When they arrived in St.
Maarten they presented two Dominican Republic passports as well as one
Dutch passport to immigration officers.
Further reports indicate that they also presented two other Dominican
Republic passports and one French document which were all found to be
false and as a result they were sent back to Antigua on LIAT Flight #315
the said day.
When they returned to Antigua they allegedly refused to co-operate with
officials in giving their real identities and nationalities.
Their Cuban passports were later found, mutilated in the toilet aboard
LIAT Flight #312.
The defendants then admitted the documents were theirs but claimed that
they did not have money to pay for flights back to Cuba.
They were subsequently taken into custody at the St John's Police
Station where they stayed pending certain decisions.
After that, they were put on Caribbean Airways flight to Jamaica, with
an onward ticket to Cuba a few weeks later. Air Jamaica officials
refused to board the defendants on the flight because they did not
produce re-entry certificates for Cuba and they were once again sent
back to Antigua.
They were held at the police station until the 7 September when they
were charged with landing in Antigua without a passport.
The case was adjourned without a date, until the three are located and
are brought before the court.
http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&sun=412822067209182007&an=322546099109172007&ac=Local
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