According to Police former FIFA vice president Jack Warner spent Wednesday night in jail after surrendering to face an arrest warrant issued at the request of U.S. authorities, who filed corruption charges against him and 13 others tied to international soccer.
Warner
appeared in court, where a judge read eight counts against him and then set
bail at 2.5 million Trinidadian dollars, or roughly $395,000, with conditions
that included he surrender his passport and report to police twice a week.
Warner did not enter a plea and was scheduled to appear in court again July 12.
Police
said there was a delay in processing Warner's bail and he would spend one night
in a lockup. Before turning himself in, Warner denied he had done anything
wrong.
The U.S.
has two months to issue a formal extradition request, according to Trinidad's
attorney general, Garvin Nicholas, who said his office had been working with
the U.S. Justice Department for about two years regarding the investigation of
Warner, who was forced out of FIFA in 2011 over a bribery scandal.
In a
video posted on Facebook just hours before he surrendered, Warner said, "I
want to tell you, that whatever is planned for me, negatively, shall not
succeed."
Warner,
who is an opposition member of Parliament in the twin-island nation, can be
extradited to the U.S. under a bilateral treaty following a hearing. He also
previously served as Trinidad's national security minister.
"Mr.
Warner is entitled to a fair extradition process and both the requesting and
requested States intend to abide by the provisions of the treaty to ensure that
Mr. Warner's rights are respected," the attorney general said in a
statement.
Earlier
in the day, Warner denied any wrongdoing, as he has previously when confronted
with allegations that he enriched himself while an official with the global
soccer governing body and as a president of CONCACAF, the federation's North
American regional organization.
Warner
left soccer in 2011 to avoid FIFA sanctions during the organization's
presidential election. He said he was not questioned in the investigation that
led to the indictment, as well as to the guilty pleas by two of his sons on
related charges.
"I
have been afforded no due process and I have not even been questioned in this
matter," he said in a statement. "I reiterate that I am innocent of
any charges. I have walked away from the politics of world football to immerse
myself in the improvement of lives in this country where I shall, God willing,
die."
In a
brief phone conversation with The Associated Press, Warner declined to comment
further and said he did not have enough information about his sons' guilty
pleas to comment. "I can't say anything about what I don't know
about."
Warner
represents the constituency of Chaguanas West in Parliament. His term is due to
expire when the session ends June 17.
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