Dear Dickie Crawford,
Since everyone knew that this would be a charade and a whitewash (and a great TV soap opera as it turned out) why do we all seem so worked up over the fact that Golding paid for and got what he wanted? In 2001 Seaga refused to play ball with the then Commission of Enquiry because he felt it would be a waste of time. It turned out that he was correct. In 2011 the PNP played ball because they felt that the Enquiry would what: uncover the truth?
Since no one insisted, certainly not KD Knight, nor Patrick Atkinson, that the Commission dig deeper in terms of finding out who paid the US$60,000 to Manat and Phelps -- where else was a smoking gun to be found? Golding and Vaz must be having a good laugh at how timid were Knight and Atkinson on this crucial matter. This was a far more serious matter than any banter about being a pathological liar.
So the question still remains: Did Coke pay Manat and Phelps? I once interviewed Dr Christopher Walker who said he had proof that Coke paid the money. Why did no one try to get him to provide the evidence he had?
On the other hand, who was the mystery JLP donor? If attention had been paid to cracking this nut – perhaps the $80 million plus would have been worth it. But the ball was dropped big time where this was concerned. Bull dogs Knight and Atkinson, and the PNP were of no use. They turned out to be pussy cats.
I must also say that the PNP has a challenge on its hands in terms of refuting the Commissioners’ argument that the turning over of the contents of Coke’s wiretap to the US was not a breach of the Interception of Communications Act. I’m still waiting on the PNP’s analysis. In the PNP’s mind the Phillips MOUs were OK but not everyone sees it that way. Phillips still needs to answer why he felt there was no need to tell anyone about them.
Give the Commissioners credit for underlining the potential for abuse in these MOUs. So have Coke’s lawyers in New York . Judges don’t investigate and so any request to tap Dickie Crawford’s phone could be accepted at face value by the judge (rubber stamped the NY lawyers called it) and no one will be the wiser because this is all secret stuff. This matter cannot be just swept under the carpet unless one is hopelessly naïve.
Finally, I hear no one demanding to know why a PNP government and the security forces conspired to turn over Coke’s wiretap evidence to the US while refusing to use it try him here in Jamaica for violating the country’s laws against illegal trafficking in guns and drugs. SOMETHING IS EXTREMELY STRANGE WHERE THIS IS CONCERNED AND ANSWERS MUST BE DEMANDED.
Finally, any government Commission of Enquiry into the crimes against humanity committed in Tivoli and other parts of west Kingston will be an equal fiasco. Both parties are quite happy that it was the Shower Posse that was dismantled rather than horrific crimes committed against innocent civilians.
These two parties are a total failure where justice for the Jamaican people is concerned. Organizations which seek to offer an alternative cannot just let such crucial matters pass by without engaging in more incisive analysis.
Lloyd D’Aguilar
Campaign for Social and Economic Justice
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