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Shut up!
Published: Sunday | July 4, 2010
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
The Government is combing through the Official Secrets Act to see if it can find provisions to silence Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, whose devastating allegations have rocked the administration.
The former police commissioner broke a self-imposed six months' silence weeks ago and since then, has made several damning charges against the Bruce Golding administration.
Now, National Security Minister Dwight Nelson says the Government will be monitoring all further comments from the former army man and, if needs be, will seek to use the law to shut him up.
"We have to determine whether the former commissioner is bounded by the Official Secrets Act and whether he can speak of any briefings he might have had with both me and the prime minister in his capacity as commissioner of police," Nelson told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.
The Official Secrets Act of 1911, imported from England, prohibits public servants from revealing certain information which would affect areas such as national security.
The act, though amended in 1989, places a great burden of secrecy on a member or former member of the security and intelligence services, or those working closely with them.
There is no public-interest defence, and disclosure of information already in the public domain is still a crime.
Yesterday, Nelson said he would be "monitoring very closely what he (Lewin) says from now on within that context".
Lewin last week alleged that deposed Tivoli Gardens don Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, who the United States has charged for drug-smuggling and gunrunning, was "tipped off" about the extradition request within 15 minutes after he, in his capacity as police commissioner, had advised Nelson.
'Strange coincidence'
According to Lewin, he had hardly briefed Nelson and arrived at Vale Royal to inform Golding on the pending request from the United States when Coke beat a hasty retreat to his enclave of Tivoli Gardens.
"Strange coincidence," Lewin said.
Nelson has not only rubbished the claim by Lewin but he has threatened legal action against the former police commissioner.
But Nelson claims he is not trying to muzzle Lewin by the threat of the lawsuit or the move to put his statements under the microscope of the 'zip-mouth' law.
"I am bound by the Official Secrets Act and he is bound by the Official Secrets Act. It is a matter of law. Let him speak, but I will be taking note of what he says," Nelson told The Sunday Gleaner.
Meanwhile, sources close to Lewin said he is likely to be in an explosive mood when he addresses a Rotary Club of Kingston meeting in Port Royal tomorrow.
Nelson called Lewin an abject failure and threatened legal action following claims made by the former top cop on the CVM-TV programme Direct.
Lewin has charged that the Government has not been serious about crime. He has also criticised the Golding administration for its handling of the extradition request for Coke, arguing that criminals were emboldened by the reluctance to extradite Coke.
Long before Lewin's revelation on television last week, well-placed security personnel had been telling The Sunday Gleaner that they were concerned about the link between politicians and Coke.
Security personnel said they were able to track Coke's movements and were always in a position to intercept him but this changed once the political directorate was informed of the extradition request.
However, Nelson said he has never heard this.
Last week, Nelson described Lewin's statement as a "reckless outburst" and attributed it to "his abject failure as commissioner of police".
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