Sahab Jamshidi (centre) and his friends Stephen (left) and Raymond.
HAMILTON SPECTATOR (CANADA) – A Hamilton man facing charges in St. Lucia is calling on the Canadian government to help him get off the island until his date in court.
Sahab Jamshidi, 34, was charged in the drowning death of a local four-year-old boy in March. In May, a high court judge ruled that Jamshidi will face trial in the case.
But with the Caribbean island’s courthouse shut down this summer for asbestos issues, his family is concerned it could be years before the trial finally gets underway.
In a post on the Save Sahab Jamshidi Facebook page Tuesday, his family asks “how long will this crippled system take to reach a resolution?”
For the past few months the legal system (has been) crippled. Nothing happens there.
Jamshidi is charged with gross negligence or recklessness causing death. St. Lucia police allege four-year-old Terrell Joshua (T.J.) Elibox drowned after Jamshidi took him out on his kite board. The 34-year-old maintains he was kitesurfing with friends when he spotted T.J. drowning and called for help, before helping to lead a search party at the beach for the child.
Jamshidi, a medical school graduate, needs to write his United States medical licensing exam in order to apply for residencies — which would require him to travel to the U.S. twice between November and January to write the test — but until his matter is resolved, his bail conditions bar him from leaving the island.
Sahar Jamshidi says her brother’s lawyer, Alberton Richelieu, has been trying to file an application to loosen his bail conditions to enable him to fulfil his academic obligations — but with a courthouse backlogged after closing for asbestos removal, it’s proven impossible.
Sahar says it’s been completely on hold. “For the past few months the legal system (has been) crippled. Nothing happens there.”
A clerk who answered the phone at the Castries courthouse Wednesday confirmed there were “renovations,” but said some matters are still being heard on one floor.
His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 19, but Sahar says they are concerned there won’t even be a court to go to — which they fear is a sign of long delays to come.
He missed an appearance at the International Society of Hip Arthroscopy, where one of his scholarly articles has been accepted for a poster presentation in Cambridge, England on Wednesday.
He has watched similar opportunities slip away for the past seven months, his sister says, and they are now asking the Canadian High Commission in Barbados to provide an affidavit assuring his return to the island for future court dates should he be granted permission to leave. Calls to the High Commission by the Spectator were not returned.
Back home in Ancaster, Jamshidi’s parents have also been in touch with their MP David Sweet. In response to an interview request Wednesday, Sweet’s press secretary said he was unable to comment due to rules around his candidacy in the upcoming federal election.
Terrel Joshua Elibox
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