Rear Admiral demands Gelding's removal from Front Line duty

[Don1]

Former commissioner of Jamaica calls for Golding resignation

2010-07-01 08:55:20 | with audio | (0 Comments)

Former police commissioner Rear Admiral Lewin has joined the calls for the Prime Minister Bruce Golding to resign over his involvement in the Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke extradition issue.

The Prime Minister had led the Government’s defence that it would not sign the extradition request for Coke, claiming that the indictment was based on illegally obtained evidence.

Eight months after the request was made, the Prime Minister said he was willing to pay the political price for his stance.

As a result, Admiral Lewin said he is not impressed by the Prime Minister’s claim about renewed efforts to fight crime.

Dudus was eventually extradited on June 24, one month after an incursion into west Kingston to capture him.

The Government decided to sign the extradition request after mounting pressure for the Prime Minister to step down for sanctioning the hiring of a US-based firm to lobby against the extradition request.

[Mosiah]

when dem gwine leave Liad Bruce alone?!?

[Mosiah]

Das why wi can't reach nuwhere!

Lawsuit threat on Lewin

Published: Friday | July 2, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions


Dwight Nelson, minister of national security.



Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin




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Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, once the highest-ranking crime-fighter in the army and the police force, seems destined to engage in a fierce legal battle waged by a government minister.
National Security Minister Dwight Nelson yesterday launched a broadside at Lewin over damning statements he made on a CVM TV interview programme on Wednesday night.
Lewin alleged that Tivoli Gardens enforcer Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, who the United States indicted on drug-smuggling and gunrunning charges, got word of the extradition request for him within 15 minutes after Lewin, then the police commissioner, advised Nelson.
The security minister confirmed that the matter was headed for the court.
"I will be seeking legal recourse and as such will be discussing the matter with attorneys," Nelson told The Gleaner yesterday.
In a rebuttal of Wednesday night's interview, Nelson assailed the former police chief, describing his tenure as an abject failure.
He also claimed that Lewin's comments were politically coloured.
"His (Lewin's) strident call for the resignation of the prime minister must be seen as a rearguard action to achieve what the People's National Party's censure motion in Parliament failed to do," charged Nelson.
Opposition Spokesman on National Security, Peter Bunting, said Lewin's revelations have grave implications as the information was available only to the minister of national security, the then commissioner of police, the army chief and the prime minister.
"This latest revelation is consistent with the deception and seeming complicity surrounding the prime minister's, and several of his ministers', statements and actions to delay and frustrate the extradition request over a nine-month period," said Bunting.
He characterised Nelson's response as a personal attack on Lewin.
Nelson hit back at Lewin with a vengeance, hours after the former police chief characterised the leak to Coke as a strange "coincidence".
"The statements made by Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin during a television interview on Wednesday night reflect the maliciousness of a bitter and revengeful man," declared the national security minister.
"I reject and repudiate Mr Lewin's insinuation that either the prime minister or I alerted Christopher Coke to the existence of an extradition request by the US authorities," he added.
Lewin claimed that he was informed of the extradition request on August 24, 2009, after which he conveyed the information to Nelson.
Poor job as commissioner
But yesterday, a raging Nelson charged that Lewin's failure to adduce any evidence to support his reckless statement raises questions as to his real motive.
"A matter of such grave consequences for national security could not have been kept hidden for so long only now to be disclosed in some dramatic revelation," argued Nelson.
"His reckless outburst must be attributed to his abject failure as commissioner of police," declared Nelson. "During his tenure crime exploded to record levels with more than 800 murders being committed in his first six months on the job."
Nelson said Lewin managed the operational arm of the crime portfolio in May 2008 when 199 Jamaicans were gunned down.
"His failure was due to his inability to devise and implement effective crime-fighting strategies and the arrogance of his leadership which alienated large sections of the police force and deprived him of the support that a commissioner needs if the force is to be effectively managed and deployed," charged Nelson.
The minister said the ineffectiveness of his leadership in tackling crime was demonstrated in his public declaration that crime would "get worse before it got better".
gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com

[Mosiah]

He (Nelson) also claimed that Lewin's comments were politically coloured.

"His (Lewin's) strident call for the resignation of the prime minister must be seen as a rearguard action to achieve what the People's National Party's censure motion in Parliament failed to do," charged Nelson.

Absolute nonsense! A call for Golding's resignation does not and should not mean one sides with any political party. It is the decent, honest and patriotic thing to do!!!

Nelson needs to cool. I'm sure Hardley Lewin would just love for him to bring him to court!

[Willi]

Why did Lewin wait till now though... Does not add up...

[Muadib]

Panic.. yuh nuh si wheh ah gwaan ?

Dem see di ting slipping away.. dem swear seh dem have di Grand Master dead to rights..

All dem si is Obama bigging him up and crime dipping..

Panic..

Mi did warn dem and tell dem to invest in roses but.. alas..

[Don1]

Why did Lewin wait till now though... Does not add up...

nothing strange about this in the least. There is a time & place for everything....nuff more shoe leff fi drap

Stay tuned....show nuh cut yet

[Assasin]

Di man can't stand up inna fire.

He was in a position to make changes and even bring down the govt then
but him resign twice. He had idea how Jamaican politicians work?
Bigup Christie everytime. Stand up and let his position known.

[Mosiah]

well, bring him to court, i dare him!

[Don1]

well, bring him to court, i dare him!

Nelson posturing with sound & fury....signifying nothing.

Political corruption reigns supreme

[Lionpaw]

Mo, mi think say dem kidnap yuh fi ransom a South Africa to rhatid, but den again dem probably dweet and den let u go when dem realize say u weren't actually dudus.

[Karl]

Good!
...now wi wi kno more pan wah-tah gwaan?!

[Karl]

Why did Lewin wait till now though... Does not add up...

Makes no difference. It is either true or not true!

[ReggaeMike]

You mean, why did Lewin wait until Dudus was caught and safely in the US and when the general populace and the media aren't willing to turn a blind eye to the nexus between criminal gangs and the politicians to reveal more about that nexus?

Dunno, that would seem to add up though, no?

Besides, when he left his post didn't he say he wouldn't say anything for six months and only after that he revealed that the government wasn't serious about his proposals (never discussing them) and that Constable "John Herring" had done his duty? What ever happened to that again? The government still looking for that constable to prosecute him? Surely if the constable really did commit a crime they should be looking to prosecute him and put him behind bars regardless of what occurred with the Dudus situation, unless the government isn't really serious about fighting crime. Then again the latest spin is that the government was delaying the extradition request due to the economic situation with the supposed irregularities in the request and the supposed illegalities of this mystery constable vanishing into thin air.....

And with Minister Nelson's own police reporting to the media that they found copies of the extradition documents which should only be in government hands in the offices of Dudus' business in Tivoli....I dunno why Nelson expect anyone to believe that Lewin spinning a yarn.

[Willi]

He was speaking 6 weeks ago. Dont you recall his first salvo? This was before Dudus was caught!

My question is why now...