PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – A defiant Jack Warner has described the indictments accusing him of racketeering, fraud and money laundering as a witch-hunt by United States authorities angered that they lost the World Cup 2022 bid to Qatar.

He also said the fact that his two sons, Daryan and Daryll, pleaded guilty to charges in the United States had no bearing on his matters.

Warner, political leader of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) and Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West, spoke at a news conference on Thursday night after the party’s public meeting in Chaguanas.

He was flanked by ILP chairman Rekha Ramjit and the party’s deputy leader, Sunil Ramjitsingh.

Ramjit, an attorney, told the media the cases against Warner had nothing to do with his sons.

“They are making a circumstantial link without any evidence whatsoever,” she said.

Warner noted his sons pleaded guilty to structuring of financial transactions-frequent deposits of funds under US$10,000.

“They said that they (his sons) doing that too often and therefore they charge them for that…okay. The fine for that is under $5,000 and they go with a bond. Why fight a case if that is the cause?” he said.

Warner said his sons were ages 46 and 39 and their actions should not impact on him.

Ramjit added: “One man cannot pay for anybody else’s guilty plea and you need to bring the evidence and that has not been done. (Attorney General Garvin) Nicholas admitted that when he signed the document all he had before him were the charges. He did not ask any questions, nor were any questions posed to Mr Warner. That seems to me not the natural laws of justice at all. It is in full breach of the natural laws of justice.”

Ramjit said justice will take its course regarding the application for extradition for the former FIFA vice-president to face charges of racketeering and corruption in the United States.

‘Govt did not protect me’

Warner questioned the purpose of the investigations by the United States.

“The country that bid for the World Cup and failed is America. They are the ones that are angry. And have you seen that this has to be some kind of an evidential witch-hunt? You all don’t see a link that America believe that they have some divine right to get a World Cup or anything else? And they don’t believe a country like Qatar, a small country, a Muslim country, has a right to a World Cup. I can’t share that view because I am from a small country like all of you,” he said.

Warner said charges were filed against him without anyone engaging in any conversations with him. And he questioned Attorney General Garvin Nicholas’s move to sign a provisional warrant for his arrest.

“He signed it in 15 minutes, not once ever asked me a question,” he said.

Warner accused the Government of failing to protect him as a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. He said the Government’s first obligation was to protect a citizen and ensure everything was done to give him the best protection. “But you do things to protect the American. How could that be right?”

Warner described this country’s prison as the “worst” in terms of structure, facilities and amenities. But the behaviour of the prison officers, he said, was impeccable.

He said his 24-hour prison custody was spent reading the newspaper and books. “They gave me two books, one of Osama bin Laden. I haven’t slept yet. I drank coffee,” he said.

Trinidad Express