Dominicans charged
Published:Friday | April 9, 2010 | 4:55 PM
Two Dominicans have been charged fines totalling US$11,110 for human trafficking while charges of attempting to help 10 Haitians to illegally leave the country were dismissed.
The Haitians were apprehended at sea by the Coast Guard on April 1.
Magistrate Ossie Lewis this morning ordered Clive Joseph, the captain of the boat to pay a US$7, 407 fine, while his companion, Francis George, was slapped with a US$3,703 fine.
Earlier this week, the magistrate was forced to adjourn the matter after the defence lawyers for the Haitians asked that the charges be dismissed.
The lawyers had argued that the three women and seven men should be released based on the premise that the State had no jurisdiction in the matter since the Haitians were arrested six miles off the coast of Dominica and had not left the country.