Tread carefully

Attorneys in Manatt enquiry warn digging in wrong places could threaten nat'l security

TWO ATTORNEYS participating in the Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry have urged their colleagues to ensure national security is not compromised in the pursuit of truth.

Hugh Small and Lieutenant Colonel Linton Gordon yesterday made the plea as Frank Phipps, lawyer for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), sought the name of the head of the Jamaica Defence Force's (JDF) Military Intelligence Unit (MIU).

"At the end of this enquiry, there is a country that is going to continue," said Gordon, the attorney representing past and present members of the JDF.

Phipps, scoffing at his fellow attorneys' appeal, in turndeclared that democratic principles must triumph over national security concerns at the enquiry.

"How far should national security trespass upon the rights of the citizens of the country?" the JLP attorney queried.

Phipps had been asking for the MIU head's identity while cross-examining Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Cole when Gordon objected, saying he was attempting to step on dangerous grounds.

"We have had enough unnecessary disclosure. We have had the wife of a former police commissioner having to make special security arrangements because of issues having to do with One Order gangs. We don't want further disclosure and we ask that it not be done," Linton said.

On Monday, Phipps exposed the fact that the wife of former police commissioner, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, works in a major investigative unit in the United States Embassy in Kingston.

Phipps also suggested that it was Lewin's wife who tipped him off on the impending extradition request for Coke. Lewin has denied that claim.

Be careful

Through the commissioners, Small, who is representing Prime Minister Bruce Golding, urged attorneys participating in the enquiry to be careful about some of the answers they seek, as he believed some of the responses from witnesses could potentially disturb the country's national security.

"I would caution against excursions into areas that would cause damage to the defence and intelligence apparatus of the country," Small said.

Chipping in, Gordon stressed that there remained a need for secrecy in some areas to now ensure the security of structures in place to protect the nation.

"If persons have received instructions to pursue their brief in this manner, in a way inimical to the interest of the security of the country, (the commissioners) have a duty to rule that matters that cannot advance the enquiry, that can embarrass and expose persons to danger shouldn't be allowed to be pursued," he declared.

Phipps, however, refused to relent.

Pointing to evidence that Lewin and retired Chief of Defence Staff Major General Stewart Saunders had received tips that a request would be made by the United States government for the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, he argued that the commissioners had a responsibility to determine the roles security officials played when the Americans decided to close in on the accused drug kingpin.

The commission subsequently engaged in a brief in camera meeting, during which Cole stated he would have to be given authorisation to name the MIU head. That authorisation is to be sought from the Defence Board, headed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding.