Nicholson wants probe into Lewin's allegations
Published:Wednesday | July 7, 2010 | 12:00 AM
AS THE war of words between Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin and National Security Minister Dwight Nelson heats up, a senior opposition senator is pushing for a commission of enquiry to probe the the ex-police commissioner's allegations of a leak.
Debating a motion to censure Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne in the Senate last Friday, leader of opposition business in the Upper House A.J. Nicholson said there were unanswered questions in relation to the stunning revelation.
"The problem that you have is this: Here it is that the former commissioner has said that at the beginning there was a tip-off, and if he doesn't come up with the evidence, it will be cast in the realm of circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is powerful evidence in the absence of a contrary explanation," Nicholson argued.
Following Lewin's statement a week ago on CVM TV, claiming that alleged drug lord Christopher 'Dudus' Coke was tipped off almost 15 minutes after the ex-police chief advised a senior government minister about the request, Nelson fired back with scathing comments about the former army chief.
The minister has flatly denied the allegation. However, during the debate in the Senate, Lightbourne told her colleagues that before she was advised of the extradition proceedings, copies of the extradition request were "floating all over the place". "The request should have come to me through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It did not," Lightbourne said.
Lightbourne said she received a call from "someone in the army" who advised her that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had the request and that it would have been submitted to her.
"I called my office. Have you got this yet? No, we don't know anything about it. Has Foreign Affairs got it? Foreign Affairs was called, they knew nothing about it. I then had to call back and say what is this. This thing has not gone through its processes and I was told: 'We are trying to speed it up so we make copies that everybody will get it all at the same time'," Lightbourne asserted.
The censure motion moved by opposition Senator Sandrea Falconer against Lightbourne for her handling of the extradition request for Coke was put to a vote and was defeated.