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under threat”. He called the then Prime Minister, the Most Honourable P.J.
Patterson, and sought and obtained his permission to go into Tivoli Gardens.
7.32.
Returning to the visit of 19 May, Bishop Blair testified:
“Upon entering Tivoli Gardens I noticed that, on a few
occasions, he had to gesticulate to persons to move and
allow us in. I observed blockages within the community and
there seemed to be an intensification. This was along
Bustamante Highway. I was taken straight to an office. I
waited for some time. Mr. Coke ultimately appeared. He
was very calm, cool and calculating. I had been
apprehensive going in but that disappeared.”
Request to Surrender
7.33.
Bishop Blair said that he thought it was important “to request him
to do some things”.
“(i) It was necessary for him to accede to the requests of
the security forces for him to turn himself in. He
patiently responded and expressed fear that if he
turned himself in, he would not receive a fair trial but
his legal team was drafting an affidavit and he would
wait until the Court decided.
(ii) He could waive his rights and turn himself in to the
U.S. authorities.”
7.34.
Bishop Blair spent about 2 hours with Coke and, before he left, he
asked Coke “to request the more than 50 armed persons that I saw to disarm
themselves. These men were securing the community.”
21 May 2010
7.35.
On 21 May, Bishop Blair “made a presentation of what took place
to the PMI, including the representative of the JCF, James Forbes”. Later, in the
evening, he received a call from CoP Ellington inviting him to the Commissioner’s
office the next day.