The Grand Design?

The last day of January 2011 was a very interesting one at the Dudus COE AKA the Manatt COE:

• For the first salvo we were treated to vintage courtroom drama practised by the silks (QCs). Hugh Small Q.C. locked horns with K.D Knight Q.C., while Frank Phipps Q.C. and Winston Spalding Q.C. indulged in more esoteric interventions.
• Then the fact of the four memoranda took center stage.  The public still has no idea as to the contents.  Instead, the questions focused primarily on the whereabouts, the non-involvement of certain ministries and the usual procedures for such matters.
• For those oblivious to the objectives of this elaborate and detailed enquiry the grand design became evident in the last two questions posed to Ambassador Coye:
• Who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time?
• Who was the Minister of National Security at the time?
• The moment, the pregnant pause and the audience's reaction were more important than the  answers given. Of course the questioner and other attorneys already knew the answer.
• This has to be assessed alongside the context that was painstakingly brought out in evidence.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no record of such memoranda; did not participate in its formulation, negotiation or implementation; and was totally ignorant of such until informed by representatives of the US government who refused GOJ request for copies.
• Furthermore there seems to be no record of such memoranda being discussed or ratified by the Cabinet and certainly the memoranda was not brought to Parliament.
• The impression gained is that such were the result of secret deals between the then Minister of National Security and US agencies involved in national security (read CIA, DEA, FBI).
• The stage has been set. Remember those graffiti markings appearing mysteriously and accusing Peter Phillips of being a "CIA agent" and "selling out Jamaica". Now, there is evidence that the records available seem to indicate that Phillips alone and not even his cabinet colleagues were involved or informed.
• That is not all.  If you want further evidence of the grand design then you should have watched CVM nightly news. Minister of Finance Audley Shaw gave notice that it is likely that the Manatt enquiry could "backfire" on the PNP - specifically Peter Phillips when certain information comes out making him regret having called for the COE.

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Buying Time

The GOJ has "strategically released" detailed information concerning various points taken into consideration in the "Dudus affair".

This action by itself closes the option of going to the courts to have the matter resolved on the current request. The PM, AG, SG, Minister of Justice have held fast to their interpretation/application of the laws they have deemed relevant to the issue. That has been, and continues to be, a very public stand from which there can be no retreat without resignation.

The option of the decision being made by our own DPP, based on evidence supplied by Jamaican and US authorities, to press charges against Dudus in Jamaica is a luxury that the GOJ cannot afford. 

International mediation is very expensive and time consuming.  The outcome is dependent on the willingness of the contending parties to accept and implement the findings.  There are no guarantees that the issue will be resolved.

The solution that seems most likely is the issuing of a "superseding indictment" utilizing the regular channels and devoid of any bases of clarification/delay/rejection.

Irrespective of the option selected, Coke must have his day in court.  Unless he waives his rights, then this process should take two to three years to be exhausted.  That coupled with the precondition of his arrest would test severely the resolve of the GOJ/LP.

Consider the implications of such a timespan. In 2 1/2 years general elections are due!

Buying time involves hard currency, hard choices and hard consequences.

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DUD - US

The extradition debacle involving "Christopher "Dudus" Coke, is not so much about the notorious Tivoli mega-businessman with umbilical linkage to the JLP. 

It is primarly about the self-interests of leading JLP activists - some being cabinet ministers, some Members of Parliament, senators, prominent "persons" and others financial contributors.  It is for the JLP about "US"; not about "you", not about "them" but all about "US".

The real issue has been revealed:



Electronic Telephone Intercepts

• How many Members of Parliament had their telephones - private and business - tapped by the authorities?

• Over what period time were these "buggings" instituted?

• How were individuals/telephone numbers added or extracted from the lists?

• What has been done with the contents of the intercepts?

• Which authorities - local and foreign - have access to those wire tappings?

It is the self-interests of the JLP not to let the contents of those electronic telephone intercepts (ETI) be used as a basis for any extradition request or as evidence in any local or foreign court.  It is not about Dudus per se but the foundation of the extradition request. The JLP Government is mindful of setting precedent and a court adjudicating on the legality of the said intercepts.  It cannot take that risk.

In these "extradition treaty technicalities", the Tivoli don is merely a DUD.  Can you imagine the potential debvastation of those recordings of the conversations between "prominent persons" and the criminal network?  It would be off the Richter scale - a political earthquake triggering a tsunami of resignations (and arrests).

The US seems to know something about "US".  Can you hear me now?

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