GOLDING SAYS U.S. EVIDENCE AGAINST 'DUDUS' OBTAINED ILLEGALLY

The prime minister on Tue sday responded to a damning report from the U.S. Department of State, which called out the Jamaican government for stalling the extradition request.

Golding told Parliament that the annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report “reflects negatively on the effectiveness of our efforts to combat organized crime, drug trafficking and corruptio n as well as the delays in enacting legislation to strengthen these efforts”.

The report released by the US Department of State on Monday, lambasted the Jamaican government stating that the treatment of request for Coke's extradition, made last August, “marked a dramatic change in (the Jamaican Government's) previous cooperation on extradition”.

But Golding said he was not ready to turn any Jamaican citizen over to a foreign body without a strong enough case, even though in this case it might be politically expedient.

“I am not defending the wrongdoing of any person but, if I have to pay a political price for it, I am going to uphold a position that constitutional rights do not begin at Liguanea”- the location of the U.S. Embassy in Kingston.

Arguing that this stance is not unique to Coke, a Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) supporter, Golding said if it were any other area leader, citing Matthews Lane strongman Zekes (Donald Phipps) a People’s National Party (PNP) supporter, he would do the same thing.

Golding asserted that the U.S. State Department did not do due diligence as “There were aspects of the case and the procedures employed that were abnormal…” He said, “the Government, consistent with the provisions of the Extradition Treaty, sought clarification and additional information” but these have not been submitted.

Golding said the government could not disregard the breaches in Coke’s case, since the way the U.S. government acquired the evidence was “highly irregular”.

However, the State Department called the claim ‘unfounded’. It said the extradition request was the subject of “unexplained disclosure of law enforcement information to the press, and unfounded allegations questioning the US’ compliance with the MLAT (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty) and Jamaican law”.

Golding also jumped to the defense of justice minister, Dorothy Lightbourne, who has been sharply criticized for the delay in extraditing Coke, saying she has a duty to ensure that extradition procedures were in accordance with Jamaican law.

He said, “As minister, and, especially as attorney general, she cannot authorize processes which she knows to be in violation of Jamaican law.”

But, opposition member Dr. Peter Phillips, a former national security minister, has asked numerous times whether it was the job of the government to make such determination, or whether the appropriate route was for the Jamaican courts to determine the acquisition of the evidence against Coke.

Phillips asked, “Would it be more appropriately and transparently settled in a court of Jamaica rather than by a politically appointed minister (Lightbourne) who is going to be expressing a judgment on someone that is deemed, at least in the words of this report, as someone who is politically affiliated to the same party that she (the minister) is affiliated?”

Golding, however, is holding firm to his stance, despite its unpopularity in Jamaica and the Diaspora, since many believe Coke should be extradited and have a chance to defend himself in court.

How this will play out remains to be seen, since there are claims that a backlash from the U.S. government is to be expected if this standoff continues.