FOREIGN Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Senator AJ Nicholson says that the Government is hopeful that a Jamaican airline pilot, who has been imprisoned for close to two years in Qatar, will be pardoned and released early.

Nicholson, in a statement tabled in the Senate on Friday, said that the Government expected a date for his release “in light of time served and any time off for good behaviour”.

“The Government of Jamaica is hopeful that its request for pardon will be favourably considered to allow the early release of the Jamaican national,” he said. However, the statement pointed out that “it should be borne in mind that the grant of a pardon is entirely at the discretion of the authorities in Qatar”.

The issue had been raised publicly by Opposition spokesman on foreign affairs and foreign trade Edmund Bartlett, seeking the release of Paul Stephens.

Stephens was among a number of Jamaican pilots who migrated to the Middle East nation to work since 2010, following the merger of Air Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines. He was arrested in 2011 after being accused of sexual molestation. He was eventually found guilty of betrayal of trust of a minor and sent to the Salwa prison in Qatar.

His family has made several statements about his treatment in prison, alleging that he has been beaten and subjected to attempted sexual assaults by fellow prisoners.

However, according to Bartlett, the Government had been lethargic in responding to their pleas to assist in getting him pardoned under Qatari customs, which allow for amnesties during Muslim and national celebrations, including an amnesty offered during the observance of Ramadan, which ended in August.

He said that having missed that opportunity, the Government failed to act upon another request from Stephens’ family to seek his release under another amnesty available in December, when Qatar celebrates its national day.

The issue has also been raised in the Senate by Opposition Senator Robert Montague on a number of occasions leading to the tabling of the statement from the minister.

Senator Montague told the Jamaica Observer on Friday that although he welcomed the statement, he was disappointed that he was not able to ask follow-up questions in the Senate.

In his statement, Nicholson said that the report was being made because the issue has been placed in the public domain by various sources. However, the pilot was not named in it “because it is not the policy of the ministry to reveal the names of nationals arrested or incarcerated overseas, or to discuss in the media the charges made against them”.

He said that the report was being made because of assertions that the Government of Jamaica has not acted to defend the interests of this Jamaican national.

Summarising the involvement of the Jamaican Embassy in Kuwait in the matter, the statement said that pre-conviction consular contact was opened in October 2010. Stephens was contacted by phone in January 2011, after the Jamaican Government was informed by the Jamaican High Commission in the United Kingdom about a Jamaican national charged with a criminal offence in Qatar.

He said that during the telephone call, the mission collected personal information on the national and information on the facts surrounding the case. Phone calls were made to him on an average of twice per month to check on his welfare. In addition, a member of staff met with him in Doha, Qatar, on July 17, 2011, for a consular visit. Regular telephone conversations were also held with his lawyers to ascertain how the case was progressing.

After he was taken into custody in January 2013 to begin serving his sentence, the mission continued to maintain contact with him through regular phone calls. Telephone calls were made to him on average twice per month. He would also call the mission from time to time. However, contacting him in prison was more difficult because it required pre-clearance from the prison authorities.

In December 2013, the embassy formally wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar advising that there was a serious and abiding interest, on the part of Jamaica, in Stephens’ welfare. Whenever the mission was informed of any concerns about the Jamaican, every effort was made to contact him, as soon as possible.

Nicholson said that, for example, on December 12, 2013, a member of staff telephoned Stephens in prison to check on his status, after being advised by a friend of his that he was having difficulty coping in prison. In November 2014, the mission was advised that he had been removed to hospital. On November 13, 2014, he was contacted by phone to ascertain his situation.

“He appeared to be well treated at the hospital,” the minister’s statement said, but gave no indication of Stephens’ condition when he was admitted, or why he was admitted to hospital.

The statement said that, in addition to the consular visit in April, the mission representative met with Qatar’s minister of justice and attorney general to explore the possibility of the Emir of Qatar granting a pardon. Consultations were also held with ambassadors from two Commonwealth states, to learn from their experiences in dealing with matters of this nature in Qatar.

It added that on April 24, the Jamaican Government, through its embassy in Kuwait, transmitted a diplomatic note to the Government of Qatar, requesting the grant of pardon, that would allow for the early release and departure of the Jamaican national from Qatar. The note was copied to the minister of justice and attorney general of Qatar.

On June 9, the embassy forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar a second request, on behalf of Stephens’ mother, for a grant of pardon. The request was copied to the minister of justice and attorney general of Qatar.

Thereafter, Senator Nicholson said, the mission made several telephone inquiries to the authorities in Qatar to ascertain the status of the requests.

On November 20, the embassy formally requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar to provide it with an update on the requests for pardon.

On November 23, the Jamaican Government, through its embassy in Kuwait, transmitted a diplomatic note (the third formal request) to the Government of Qatar, requesting the grant of pardon that would allow the early release and departure of the Jamaican national from Qatar.