Former Prime Minister Of Jamaica Claims He Never Told US Authorities That Women Were Raped During The Tivoli Raids

brucegoldingFormer Prime Minister Bruce Golding on Thursday denied that he told US Charge d’affaires Isaiah Parnell that non-combatants were being “summarily” killed and women raped during the security forces’ operation to apprehend former don Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

Golding made the denial while being questioned by Lord Anthony Gifford, QC, during the Tivoli Gardens enquiry.

Gifford had questioned Golding about the content of an e-mail sent in May 2010 by Isaiah Parnell, the US charge d’affaires in Jamaica, to a colleague after meeting with Golding a day after the May 24 operation to apprehend Coke started.

Parnell had told his colleague that Golding had told him that women were being raped and non-combatants were being “summarily shot”, but that “our military assets could not confirm this”.

Asked if what Parnell said to his colleague, that Golding could not trust the reporting from the Jamaica Defence Force, and sent Bishop Herro Blair, then public defender and then head of the Red Cross Dr Jaslin Stewart into Tivoli was indeed his position, Golding said he sent the men into Tivoli Gardens because of conflicting reports, and he was in search of truth.

Jamaica Observer 

Boston’s Bomber Found Guilty On All 30 Counts Surrounding The Boston Terrorist Attacks; Prosecutors Want Him Dead

BostonBomberguiltyWell here’s a no brainer!

The younger (and only living) Boston bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was found guilty on 30 charges of various crimes surrounding the Boston attacks and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the 21 year old convicted terrorist.

Apparently Tsarnaev is hoping for a life in prison sentence which is not likely based on the gruesomeness and downright viciousness of his crimes. It is almost appalling that he believes that he should have the right to still live.

Last week I posted the gut wrenching article in which the family of a 8 year old boy testified at the bomber’s trail about the tragic day their son was killed by one of the bombs set by the Tsarnaev brothers.

The death penalty phase of the trial begins April 21, 2015.


bostonbomberguiltycourtVia Reuters:

The Boston Marathon bombing trial enters a new phase on April 21 as federal prosecutors begin to mount their case for putting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for killing three people and injuring 264 others in the 2013 attack.

The same jury that on Wednesday found Tsarnaev, 21, guilty of carrying out one of the most shocking attacks on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001, will hear from more prosecution and defence witnesses before determining whether to sentence him to death or life in prison without possibility of parole.

The prosecution is expected to portray the ethnic Chechen as an Islamic extremist adherent of al Qaeda who planted one of the two homemade pressure cooker bombs at the race’s finish line on April 15, 2013, because he “wanted to punish America for what it was doing to his people,” in the words of Assistant U.S. Attorney Aloke Chakravarty.

The defence, meanwhile, is expected to play up the role of his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, in carrying out the attack. In closing arguments last week, defence attorney Judith Clarke contended that Tamerlan was the driving force behind the bombing, with Dzhokhar following along.

Tamerlan died during the brothers’ chaotic final day of freedom. Three days after the bombing, the pair shot dead a police officer and carjacked a Chinese businessman as they attempted to flee the city.

The carjacking victim escaped and alerted police to their plans, setting the stage for a gunfight between the Tsarnaevs and law enforcement that ended when Dzhokhar roared off in the stolen SUV, running over his brother.

During the guilt phase of the trial, U.S. District Judge George O’Toole had limited the amount of evidence the defence could present about the relationship between the brothers, who had immigrated to the United States from Russia a decade before the attack.

But the sentencing phase, which the Justice Department announced on Friday would begin on April 21, will provide the defence with an opportunity to focus on that element of the case and possibly to call Tsarnaev to testify.

The death penalty is controversial in Massachusetts, where it is illegal under state law but allowed in federal cases. The state has not seen an execution since 1947.

The bombing killed restaurant manager Krystle Campbell, 29; Chinese exchange student Lingzi Lu, 23; and 8-year-old Martin Richard. Tsarnaev also was found guilty of the fatal shooting of Massachusetts of Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier, 26.

No Cameras Allowed In Today’s Tivoli Enquiry Proceedings As Lawyers Present Top Secret Evidence

Tivoli-EnquiryAttorneys representing the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) are to make submissions today as the West Kingston Commission of Enquiry resumes.

However, the hearing will not be open to the public.

The lawyers for the JDF are seeking to prevent the disclosure of sensitive information.

They say revealing the information may be harmful and against public interest and public safety.

Following the submissions, the Commissioners will rule if the information is to be revealed.

Meanwhile, the public will be invited to take part in the enquiry on Monday.

At that time, former Prime Minister Bruce Golding and former Commissioner of Police Owen Ellingston are to go back on the witness stand where they will be cross-examined by attorney-at-law Jacqueline Samuels-Brown, who is representing Reverend Al Miller.

Miller was arrested and charged after he was found in the company of then fugitive Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

The enquiry is looking at the police-military operation in West Kingston in May 2010 which left more than 70 people dead.

The operation was aimed at capturing Coke.

Jamaica Observer