Varley Extradition- 'We got no help from UK' says CBI

VARLEY EXTRADITION  

‘We got no help from UK’, says CBI

Herald Review October 12, 2014 
   
The CBI says it is struggling to fight the case because of an uncooperative British Crown Prosecution Service 


On Friday October 10 a British Court dismissed India’s appeal to extradite 66 year old Raymond Varley, accused of child sexual abuse in the 1980s and early 1990s. The dismissal of the appeal meant that the court upheld the May 8 decision of the Westminster Magistrate’s Court which had dismissed India’s original extradition application.

The judge at the appeal hearing essentially decided the case on one point— whether the district judge in the magistrate’s court was correct to have dismissed the extradition application based on the evidence of Varley’s neuropsychologist with regard to his fitness to be tried.

The judge decided that the district judge had been correct in making his decision based on the evidence before him and particularly stressed the point that India had been given ample opportunity to submit their own expert evidence, had been specifically asked by the judge whether they wished to do so, and categorically declined.

On Thursday a two member CBI team left for the UK to assist the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the appeal.

It was the duty of the CPS to advise India on the proper course of action when Varley first submitted evidence on his health. “ Without knowing the inner communications and dialogue between the CPS and India at that time, we cannot comment on where the ball was dropped but there has clearly been a failing in terms of case preparation and the response to the evidence submitted by Varley at the initial extradition hearings.

We are very disappointed with this result.

The victims in this case were very vulnerable children when the alleged offences occurred and it is important that justice is done and seen to be done for the purposes of their recovery and rehabilitation from the trauma they have suffered,” Najrana Imman, Head of Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at ECPAT, UK said.

CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad when contacted said racism is at play here and the CPS wasn’t cooperating with India’s CBI. “ We are waiting for actual orders to arrive to decide the further course of action,” she said.

At the district court, neuropsychologist Linda Atterton’s questionable dementia report had weighed heavily with district Judge Quentin Purdy who was swayed more by his concern for the health of the alleged child abuser than serving interests of justice for Indian children. Atterton who examined Varley said she had no doubt that he has “ moderate to severe dementia already”. The prosecution had challenged her qualification to make such findings pointing out that she wasn’t a psychiatrist with the National Health Service ( NHS) and that there was “ little actual evidence available to support the assertion of unfitness”. The defense argued that India had chosen not to commission its own expert to challenge Atterton’s competence.

The UK even sent two experts to Goa to review the prison facilities here in the interests of the ‘human rights’ of Varley.

The experts in their reports say Varley would “likely find living stressful” and paid special attention to his ‘weak knees’ and how he would require to squat in the Indian style toilet at jails here. They stated however that Varley’s human rights wouldn’t be infringed here.

Justice Purdy dismissing the extradition appeal had concluded that it would be “unjust” and “oppressive” to extradite a man who was suffering from dementia, for trial in India. Lisa Ann Monteiro Review Bureau 

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