Public Defender’s office mum on JDF admission

Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer

The Office of the Public Defender is today refusing to say whether the admission by the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), that mortar bombs were used during the Tivoli Gardens incursion in May 2010 would change the course of its investigations.

Public Defender Earl Witter said he will not make any public comments until he has submitted the preliminary findings of his investigations.

However, he has not said when the report will be ready.

In a statement released yesterday, the JDF admitted that the mortar bombs were used to divert the attention of gunmen, who had barricaded themselves inside the west Kingston community while members of the security forces moved in.

Head of the JDF Civil Military Co-operation Unit, Captain Basil Jarrett, made it clear that at no time were civilians at risk.

The JDF had initially denied that bombs were used in the operation which was carried out to capture then fugitive Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

The admission came after the release of an unclassified US diplomatic cable asserted that the JDF used mortar rounds during the operation.

The Cable, which was obtained by the New Yorker Magazine under the US Freedom of Information Act, was sent by the US Embassy in Kingston to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in Washington.

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