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(ii) Correspondence with Lawyers
7.21.
In an attempt to have Coke peacefully surrender and avoid a
violent confrontation, the JCF sent letters to attorneys-at-law who were believed
to be acting for Coke, viz. Mr. Tavares-Finson and Mrs. Jacqueline Samuels
Brown Q.C., asking that they try to persuade Coke to surrender. As it turned
out, neither attorney-at-law was then representing Coke.
(iii) Using the Peaceful Surrender Option
7.22.
Prime Minister Golding and CoP Ellington received assistance from
Bishop Herro Blair and Rev. Al. Miller. CoP Ellington explained –
“Prior to 23 May, Bishop Blair and I discussed his concern
that if he were able to persuade Coke to turn himself in, it
would avoid the security forces having to take any action to
execute the warrant and that is what I sanctioned...This was
pursuant to a public appeal that the police had made for
Coke to surrender himself and I thought that if Bishop Blair,
given his stature, given his experience working with inner-
city communities, if Bishop Blair were able to achieve the
same objective for which the police had made a public
appeal, it would be in the best interest of the community
and therefore I sanctioned those efforts.”
7.23.
Bishop Blair was head of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI),
which negotiated truces between gangs and promoted peace in violence-prone
areas. Rev. Miller was head of the National Transformation Programme in the
Office of the Prime Minister which worked with inner-city youth.
Bishop Blair’s Meetings with Coke
7.24.
As reported by CoP Ellington, Bishop Blair had meetings with Coke
at which the conditions of a possible surrender were discussed. Coke was
reluctant to surrender because he distrusted the JCF, the agency to which he
would have to surrender. He feared for his life. This fear was born of his