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DPP, PNP face off
Quarrel ignited over stalled Joe Hibbert bribery probe
BY CONRAD HAMILTON Sunday Observer senior reporter hamiltonc@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, October 30, 2011
A hostile sparring match is shaping up between the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Paula Llewellyn and the Opposition People's National Party's spokesman on Justice Mark Golding over her reported failure to proceed with corruption allegations against member of Parliament for East Rural St Andrew, Joseph Hibbert.
The DPP has been accused of inaction in the probe into bribery allegations against Hibbert after he was named in a court case in the United Kingdom where British bridge building firm Mabey and Johnson pleaded guilty to bribing Ghanaian and Jamaican officials.
GOLDING... the DPP has sought to shift the blame onto the local police
1/3
Hibbert stepped down earlier this year as state minister in the ministry of transport over the matter, his resignation causing much embarrassment for the Jamaica Labour Party.
In March last year, the DPP ruled that there was not sufficient evidence available for charges to be laid against Hibbert. However, Llewellyn said there was "sufficient compelling material" for the police to further investigate allegations of corruption on the part of the former junior works minister, who in 2009 was among a dozen politicians and officials around the world allegedly bribed by the British firm.
Llewellyn had promised that as part of her investigation, she would submit a formal request for the British Serious Frauds Office to furnish Jamaican authorities with any material evidence that can be used in its probe into Hibbert's alleged involvement.
Now the PNP's spokesman on justice, Mark Golding is expressing alarm at what he said was the DPP's revelation that this request had not been submitted to the British authorities.
"The case before the DPP appears to involve serious corruption, and Jamaica's close international partner has collected sufficient evidence to secure a guilty plea from the company which provided the alleged series of bribes.
"Jamaica has a right, under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the UK, to request the evidence that led to that guilty plea. Several months ago, the DPP was reported to have indicated, in unqualified terms, that the request for the evidence had been dispatched to the UK authorities," stated yesterday's release from the Opposition.
The PNP is questioning the DPP's capacity as well as her will to pursue the matter against the Government MP and is criticising her office for suggesting that the matter has not progressed due to the failure of the local police to submit material relating to the case.
"Instead of accepting responsibility for this situation, the DPP has sought to shift the blame onto the local police. The Opposition finds this excuse wholly unsatisfactory and inadequate, given that the contractor general investigated this case some two years ago and issued a most damning report," the release stated.
The Opposition also pointed out that former prime minister, Bruce Golding had told Parliament that the UK's Serious Fraud Office had visited Jamaica and had provided information and documents pertinent to the case.
"The Opposition is also aware that our major international law enforcement partners are increasingly concerned that the Hibbert case has been allowed to flounder in Jamaica, given the Government's recent notorious complicity in seeking to thwart the extradition of Christopher Coke. The Opposition is very concerned as our country's international reputation continues to be undermined," the release stated. It also emphasised the need for the DPP to appear before the Parliamentary Committee investigating the management and performance of the office of the DPP.
But in an interview with the Sunday Observer, Llewellyn reacted strongly to the Opposition's charges and insisted that her office had not been ignoring the case, as in March this year a senior member of her team travelled to the UK and had detailed discussions on the Hibbert matter.
"We discussed it with the investigators and the central authority, and based on those discussions, we recognise that we needed certain other information from the police, and that is why I have said that the matter is investigator driven," said the DPP, who explained that it was standard practice globally for such matters to be led by investigators and not the public prosector.
Neither was it her responsibility, she added, to prod police investigators.
Suggesting that her office was under attack, the DPP said members of her staff are bothered by utterances that appear to question the integrity of the prosecutorial arm of the State. Llewellyn asserted that she could no longer sit by and allow the credibility of her office to be tarnished and announced that come tomorrow, she would release to the media, a detailed statement on all aspects of the investigation into the Hibbert matter.
Llewellyn emphasised that the information to be shared would not normally be disclosed, but felt that given recent developments, she must.
"Even though we will give information in this press release in order to protect our credibility in respect of the process, even though we will give information to address the issues, we will disclose no information that will ultimately compromise the integrity of the ongoing criminal investigations in respect of Mr Hibbert," Llewellyn said.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1cGLyRejR
Quarrel ignited over stalled Joe Hibbert bribery probe
BY CONRAD HAMILTON Sunday Observer senior reporter hamiltonc@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, October 30, 2011
A hostile sparring match is shaping up between the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Paula Llewellyn and the Opposition People's National Party's spokesman on Justice Mark Golding over her reported failure to proceed with corruption allegations against member of Parliament for East Rural St Andrew, Joseph Hibbert.
The DPP has been accused of inaction in the probe into bribery allegations against Hibbert after he was named in a court case in the United Kingdom where British bridge building firm Mabey and Johnson pleaded guilty to bribing Ghanaian and Jamaican officials.
GOLDING... the DPP has sought to shift the blame onto the local police
1/3
Hibbert stepped down earlier this year as state minister in the ministry of transport over the matter, his resignation causing much embarrassment for the Jamaica Labour Party.
In March last year, the DPP ruled that there was not sufficient evidence available for charges to be laid against Hibbert. However, Llewellyn said there was "sufficient compelling material" for the police to further investigate allegations of corruption on the part of the former junior works minister, who in 2009 was among a dozen politicians and officials around the world allegedly bribed by the British firm.
Llewellyn had promised that as part of her investigation, she would submit a formal request for the British Serious Frauds Office to furnish Jamaican authorities with any material evidence that can be used in its probe into Hibbert's alleged involvement.
Now the PNP's spokesman on justice, Mark Golding is expressing alarm at what he said was the DPP's revelation that this request had not been submitted to the British authorities.
"The case before the DPP appears to involve serious corruption, and Jamaica's close international partner has collected sufficient evidence to secure a guilty plea from the company which provided the alleged series of bribes.
"Jamaica has a right, under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the UK, to request the evidence that led to that guilty plea. Several months ago, the DPP was reported to have indicated, in unqualified terms, that the request for the evidence had been dispatched to the UK authorities," stated yesterday's release from the Opposition.
The PNP is questioning the DPP's capacity as well as her will to pursue the matter against the Government MP and is criticising her office for suggesting that the matter has not progressed due to the failure of the local police to submit material relating to the case.
"Instead of accepting responsibility for this situation, the DPP has sought to shift the blame onto the local police. The Opposition finds this excuse wholly unsatisfactory and inadequate, given that the contractor general investigated this case some two years ago and issued a most damning report," the release stated.
The Opposition also pointed out that former prime minister, Bruce Golding had told Parliament that the UK's Serious Fraud Office had visited Jamaica and had provided information and documents pertinent to the case.
"The Opposition is also aware that our major international law enforcement partners are increasingly concerned that the Hibbert case has been allowed to flounder in Jamaica, given the Government's recent notorious complicity in seeking to thwart the extradition of Christopher Coke. The Opposition is very concerned as our country's international reputation continues to be undermined," the release stated. It also emphasised the need for the DPP to appear before the Parliamentary Committee investigating the management and performance of the office of the DPP.
But in an interview with the Sunday Observer, Llewellyn reacted strongly to the Opposition's charges and insisted that her office had not been ignoring the case, as in March this year a senior member of her team travelled to the UK and had detailed discussions on the Hibbert matter.
"We discussed it with the investigators and the central authority, and based on those discussions, we recognise that we needed certain other information from the police, and that is why I have said that the matter is investigator driven," said the DPP, who explained that it was standard practice globally for such matters to be led by investigators and not the public prosector.
Neither was it her responsibility, she added, to prod police investigators.
Suggesting that her office was under attack, the DPP said members of her staff are bothered by utterances that appear to question the integrity of the prosecutorial arm of the State. Llewellyn asserted that she could no longer sit by and allow the credibility of her office to be tarnished and announced that come tomorrow, she would release to the media, a detailed statement on all aspects of the investigation into the Hibbert matter.
Llewellyn emphasised that the information to be shared would not normally be disclosed, but felt that given recent developments, she must.
"Even though we will give information in this press release in order to protect our credibility in respect of the process, even though we will give information to address the issues, we will disclose no information that will ultimately compromise the integrity of the ongoing criminal investigations in respect of Mr Hibbert," Llewellyn said.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1cGLyRejR
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