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Bruce's 12-month nightmare
Published: Sunday | August 29, 2010
Golding
Like September 1, 1957 - Kendal crash; January 4, 1907 - earthquake; and September 12, 1988 - Hurricane Gilbert; August 25, 2009, has left a permanent mark on the history pages of Jamaica.
August 25, 2009: The United States officially requested the
extradition of west Kingston strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and gunrunning. The request landed a seismic shock that still reverberates today, one year later.
This was not the first time that the US was requesting the extradition of a Jamaican. In fact, 18 people were extradited in 2009, and 14 in 2008.
But the impact of the extradition request for the man called 'President' was clear from days earlier when then Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin first received word that it was coming.
According to Lewin, when he told National Security Minister Dwight Nelson of the pending request, the minister, a man of darker hue, "turned white", before instructing him to brief Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
Lewin has claimed, without offering any proof, that Coke was informed minutes after government officials were briefed. This has been denied by the administration.
With the extradition request in hand, the Government - as it is entitled to do - sought additional information from the US about the evidence which formed the basis of the document.
The US, by diplomatic note on September 18, 2009, was asked to provide more information.
Urgent business
But the importance of Coke to both the Bruce Golding-led government and the Bruce Golding-led Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) would not allow anyone to wait for the US response. This was urgent business
.
So unofficially, the JLP, also in September, approached local attorney and party functionary Harold Brady - according to party leader and Prime Minister Bruce Golding - " to see whether through his contacts with persons in the American political system assistance could be obtained in finding a way to resolve what was seen as a treaty dispute between Jamaica and the US".
Up to that point, the treaty dispute was still only in the form of the extradition request as the US had not yet responded to Jamaica's diplomatic note. There was no obvious sign of "a treaty dispute".
Brady paid the American law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips US$49,892.62 on September 18 - the same day that the Jamaican Government sent off its first diplomatic note on the extradition request to the US.
Coke, the don and benefactor, had both the Government and the party labouring to secure his release from the request, both sharing information to ensure a positive outcome.
Working on two tracks
With the Bruce Golding admin-istration working on two tracks, an official programme led by Attorney General and Minister of Justice Dorothy Lightbourne and her key man, Solicitor General Douglas Leys, and an unofficial programme led by the JLP, with its key man again seeming to be Leys, the first clear sign of that treaty dispute came on October 2, 2009.
At that time, the US responded and said it would not provide any further information, and urged Jamaica to place the matter in the local courts.
By then, the recommendations to the attorney general to deal with the dispute had been shared with Manatt through an email which the solicitor general claimed he was sending to Brady.
The exchange of diplomatic notes continued into October, with the Jamaican Government requesting further information on how the US had come into possession of the wire-tapped information from Coke.
With a stalemate, the US requested a face-to-face meeting in Jamaica, and that took place on December 1, 2009, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. No resolution came out of that meeting, and both governments agreed to have their legal representatives meet again on December 17 in the US.
Manatt observer
During that meeting in Washington, DC, Leys allowed a representative of Manatt to attend in what the solicitor general said was an observer role.
Manatt, having been in formal communication with both the government official and the party functionary, and having in its possession a contract signed by a 'government consultant', had no doubt that it was working for the Jamaican Government.
But even as the Manatt representative attended that meeting as an observer, as stated by Leys, the firm had already been contracted by Brady, so the American law firm was given a first-hand look at the position of the US and Jamaican Government while working to settle the matter "on behalf of the political party".
"At the material time, I did not see anything wrong in having a representative (of Manatt) attend the meeting at the State Department for the following reasons: he was only an observer; there was no cost to the Government of Jamaica; [and] the individual who sat in on the meeting was well known for his expertise in this area," Leys later told The Sunday Gleaner.
According to Leys: "If during our continued discussions with the US State and Justice Departments issues of US law were to arise which necessitated advice from US lawyers, this was a firm which could provide quality advice."
The solicitor general has subsequently told The Sunday Gleaner that he received an apology from someone close to the issue for not being told that Manatt had already been contracted by the JLP. But Leys did not say who gave him that apology.
Leys also claimed the he had made it clear to Manatt, from their December meeting in Washington, that the Government would not be engaging the law firm.
"The representative of the firm was told by me in the meeting in the presence of Mr Harold Brady that we did not need their services now, but we would consider engaging the firm if the need arises," Leys said.
This was almost three months after Brady had signed a contract with the firm.
But despite this, Leys continued extensive communication with the law firm, which helped to draft a press release which he subsequently sent to the director in the Office of International Affairs in the US Department of Justice.
By April, with the US government not budging from its demand for the extradition of Coke, the Jamaican authorities changed tack.
At an April 12 meeting in Washington, Jamaican government officials raised the possibility of civil unrest if Coke was extradited, and argued that the treaty agreement with the US allowed for the request to be refused if "compliance would prejudice other public interests of Jamaica".
Getting house in order
While all this was taking place behind the scenes, Coke was busy putting his house in order in the event these efforts came to nought.
At the same time, the country had its first taste of the Manatt muddle when questions about the role of the law firm were raised in Parliament by opposition Member of Parliament Dr Peter Philips.
After initially denying any connection with the law firm, Golding, two days later, indicated that Brady had contacted Leys and had suggested that Manatt could help in the Dudus dispute.
Two weeks later, Golding first told the country of the connection between his party and Manatt, which unleashed a firestorm, with thunderous calls for his resignation.
The attorney general also went to court seeking a declaration on the matters she had to consider before signing the extradition request.
But by May 11, Golding admitted that he had sanctioned his party's approach to Manatt, while continuing to deny that the law firm had been contracted by or represented the Government.
This has been consistently contradicted by Manatt which, only last week, restated its position.
" ... as stated in our FARA (Foreign Agents Registra-tion Act) filings, Manatt was engaged by the Government of Jamaica to assist with existing political and economic matters, including existing treaty agreements between Jamaica and the US," reiterated Manatt's general counsel, Monte Lemann.
Days after that May 11 disclosure, with public criticism growing, Light-bourne signed the authority to proceed, and the following day, an arrest warrant was issued for Coke, sparking the month-long hunt that included the west Kingston incursion which left more than 70 people dead before the west Kingston strongman was captured near the border of Kingston and St Andrew.
But even as Coke languishes in a New York maximum-security facility awaiting the chance to clear his name, the Manatt issue continues to be a headache for Golding and the Government, which is facing a yearlong nightmare which started on August 25, 2009.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...ead/lead3.html
Published: Sunday | August 29, 2010
Golding
Like September 1, 1957 - Kendal crash; January 4, 1907 - earthquake; and September 12, 1988 - Hurricane Gilbert; August 25, 2009, has left a permanent mark on the history pages of Jamaica.
August 25, 2009: The United States officially requested the
extradition of west Kingston strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and gunrunning. The request landed a seismic shock that still reverberates today, one year later.
This was not the first time that the US was requesting the extradition of a Jamaican. In fact, 18 people were extradited in 2009, and 14 in 2008.
But the impact of the extradition request for the man called 'President' was clear from days earlier when then Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin first received word that it was coming.
According to Lewin, when he told National Security Minister Dwight Nelson of the pending request, the minister, a man of darker hue, "turned white", before instructing him to brief Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
Lewin has claimed, without offering any proof, that Coke was informed minutes after government officials were briefed. This has been denied by the administration.
With the extradition request in hand, the Government - as it is entitled to do - sought additional information from the US about the evidence which formed the basis of the document.
The US, by diplomatic note on September 18, 2009, was asked to provide more information.
Urgent business
But the importance of Coke to both the Bruce Golding-led government and the Bruce Golding-led Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) would not allow anyone to wait for the US response. This was urgent business
.
So unofficially, the JLP, also in September, approached local attorney and party functionary Harold Brady - according to party leader and Prime Minister Bruce Golding - " to see whether through his contacts with persons in the American political system assistance could be obtained in finding a way to resolve what was seen as a treaty dispute between Jamaica and the US".
Up to that point, the treaty dispute was still only in the form of the extradition request as the US had not yet responded to Jamaica's diplomatic note. There was no obvious sign of "a treaty dispute".
Brady paid the American law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips US$49,892.62 on September 18 - the same day that the Jamaican Government sent off its first diplomatic note on the extradition request to the US.
Coke, the don and benefactor, had both the Government and the party labouring to secure his release from the request, both sharing information to ensure a positive outcome.
Working on two tracks
With the Bruce Golding admin-istration working on two tracks, an official programme led by Attorney General and Minister of Justice Dorothy Lightbourne and her key man, Solicitor General Douglas Leys, and an unofficial programme led by the JLP, with its key man again seeming to be Leys, the first clear sign of that treaty dispute came on October 2, 2009.
At that time, the US responded and said it would not provide any further information, and urged Jamaica to place the matter in the local courts.
By then, the recommendations to the attorney general to deal with the dispute had been shared with Manatt through an email which the solicitor general claimed he was sending to Brady.
The exchange of diplomatic notes continued into October, with the Jamaican Government requesting further information on how the US had come into possession of the wire-tapped information from Coke.
With a stalemate, the US requested a face-to-face meeting in Jamaica, and that took place on December 1, 2009, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. No resolution came out of that meeting, and both governments agreed to have their legal representatives meet again on December 17 in the US.
Manatt observer
During that meeting in Washington, DC, Leys allowed a representative of Manatt to attend in what the solicitor general said was an observer role.
Manatt, having been in formal communication with both the government official and the party functionary, and having in its possession a contract signed by a 'government consultant', had no doubt that it was working for the Jamaican Government.
But even as the Manatt representative attended that meeting as an observer, as stated by Leys, the firm had already been contracted by Brady, so the American law firm was given a first-hand look at the position of the US and Jamaican Government while working to settle the matter "on behalf of the political party".
"At the material time, I did not see anything wrong in having a representative (of Manatt) attend the meeting at the State Department for the following reasons: he was only an observer; there was no cost to the Government of Jamaica; [and] the individual who sat in on the meeting was well known for his expertise in this area," Leys later told The Sunday Gleaner.
According to Leys: "If during our continued discussions with the US State and Justice Departments issues of US law were to arise which necessitated advice from US lawyers, this was a firm which could provide quality advice."
The solicitor general has subsequently told The Sunday Gleaner that he received an apology from someone close to the issue for not being told that Manatt had already been contracted by the JLP. But Leys did not say who gave him that apology.
Leys also claimed the he had made it clear to Manatt, from their December meeting in Washington, that the Government would not be engaging the law firm.
"The representative of the firm was told by me in the meeting in the presence of Mr Harold Brady that we did not need their services now, but we would consider engaging the firm if the need arises," Leys said.
This was almost three months after Brady had signed a contract with the firm.
But despite this, Leys continued extensive communication with the law firm, which helped to draft a press release which he subsequently sent to the director in the Office of International Affairs in the US Department of Justice.
By April, with the US government not budging from its demand for the extradition of Coke, the Jamaican authorities changed tack.
At an April 12 meeting in Washington, Jamaican government officials raised the possibility of civil unrest if Coke was extradited, and argued that the treaty agreement with the US allowed for the request to be refused if "compliance would prejudice other public interests of Jamaica".
Getting house in order
While all this was taking place behind the scenes, Coke was busy putting his house in order in the event these efforts came to nought.
At the same time, the country had its first taste of the Manatt muddle when questions about the role of the law firm were raised in Parliament by opposition Member of Parliament Dr Peter Philips.
After initially denying any connection with the law firm, Golding, two days later, indicated that Brady had contacted Leys and had suggested that Manatt could help in the Dudus dispute.
Two weeks later, Golding first told the country of the connection between his party and Manatt, which unleashed a firestorm, with thunderous calls for his resignation.
The attorney general also went to court seeking a declaration on the matters she had to consider before signing the extradition request.
But by May 11, Golding admitted that he had sanctioned his party's approach to Manatt, while continuing to deny that the law firm had been contracted by or represented the Government.
This has been consistently contradicted by Manatt which, only last week, restated its position.
" ... as stated in our FARA (Foreign Agents Registra-tion Act) filings, Manatt was engaged by the Government of Jamaica to assist with existing political and economic matters, including existing treaty agreements between Jamaica and the US," reiterated Manatt's general counsel, Monte Lemann.
Days after that May 11 disclosure, with public criticism growing, Light-bourne signed the authority to proceed, and the following day, an arrest warrant was issued for Coke, sparking the month-long hunt that included the west Kingston incursion which left more than 70 people dead before the west Kingston strongman was captured near the border of Kingston and St Andrew.
But even as Coke languishes in a New York maximum-security facility awaiting the chance to clear his name, the Manatt issue continues to be a headache for Golding and the Government, which is facing a yearlong nightmare which started on August 25, 2009.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...ead/lead3.html
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