No known threat to Lewin's wife
Published:Friday | February 18, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Minister of National Security Dwight Nelson yesterday told the Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry that reports suggest there is no merit to claims that the wife of former Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin has come under threat since the revelation of her employment with the United States Embassy in Kingston.
Nelson's disclosure yesterday came amid howls of objection from the attorneys representing Dr Peter Phillips and the People's National Party.
Nelson told the enquiry that based on reports he has received from Jamaica Constabulary Force, there was no merit to the claims made recently by Lieutenant Colonel Linton Gordon, the attorney representing Lewin.
The minister was barely able to respond to the question posed by the attorney representing the Jamaica Labour Party, Frank Phipps, when K.D. Knight intervened.
It was Phipps who had revealed that Lewin's wife worked in a sensitive department of the US Embassy.
An incensed Gordon suggested last week that her safety had been compromised as a result of the information being released at the enquiry.
Nelson, saying he had taken Gordon's claims seriously and requested a prompt investigation into the matter, said the reports had been completed and submitted.
Under cross-examination from Phipps, Nelson disclosed that he had received two reports, but that was as far as he was allowed to go before Knight jumped in.
Knight contended that the revelations of the reports could endanger citizens.
After a lengthy to and fro, George ruled that cross-examination would not be allowed on the issue.