Jamaica in the wake of Christopher Coke

jamaica-gleaner editorial



Most Jamaicans will have mixed emotions over Christopher Coke's guilty plea in America on racketeering and conspiracy charges. Primarily, though, they will feel a measure of relief.

There will be a sense of vindication, for they were certain all along that Coke had done the things of which he was accused. Yet, many of us can't help but be disappointed, hurt, angry even. We were taken through all of that only for this.

All of that, of course, is the trauma Jamaica was caused to suffer, including to its international reputation, over the affair involving this international gangster, whose base was Tivoli Gardens, the 'garrison' in west Kingston where voters are fiercely loyal to the governing Jamaica Labour Party, and which is part of the parliamentary riding of Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

When the Americans sought to extradite Coke on charges that he exported narcotics to their country and imported guns into Jamaica, the Golding administration stalled for nine months. Jamaica argued that the Americans had breached the extradition treaty between the two countries and had abused Coke's constitutional rights in the way it got hold of wiretap evidence used in the indictment against the drug boss.

The ruling party then hired American lobbyists to intervene in the dispute between the two countries to try to soften Washington's stance on the Coke extradition. In what supposedly was a private party endeavour mingled with official diplomacy, government spokespersons - not excluding Prime Minister Golding - often sounded more like Coke's legal strategists than state officials.

When the Government finally bowed to public pressure to execute the extradition request and to allow the courts to decide if it was in concert with the law, Coke gathered his private militia into his Tivoli Gardens redoubt. Coke's supporters elsewhere attacked police stations and generally caused mayhem.

The larger context

The effort by the security forces to pacify Tivoli Gardens left more than 70 people dead and the Jamaican state badly rattled, its fragility patent. That, we feel, provides the larger context within which to consider the Coke matter.

Christopher Coke personifies the kind of threat to the security and democracy of small and vulnerable countries like Jamaica. Control of large amounts of resources, illicitly derived notwithstanding, endow gangsters with the capacity to corrupt the political process and to control many levers of the State by proxy. Indeed, Coke's activities - and the criminal machinations of others - were an open secret in Jamaica.

However, given Coke's political and community connections, underpinned by his ability to distribute largesse and corral votes, it is likely that he would not have been arrested and prosecuted in Jamaica. Such an eventuality would have been made more difficult by the political fault lines in Jamaica.

In that respect, and as grudgingly as we concede it, Jamaica ought to be thankful for America's move against Coke, particularly as murders and other serious crimes have plummeted since his ouster by the military. Hopefully, Coke's arrest and guilty plea mark the crossing of a Rubicon - and the end of impunity by such hard men of violence and crime.

September 2, 2011

jamaica-gleaner editorial

Bahamas Blog International

A close-up view of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke

A close-up view of 'Dudus' From Tivoli ‘don’ to accused international drug lord

jamaicaobserver:

Journalist Tino Geddes, who has frequented Tivoli Gardens for many years, gives a personal account of the rise of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke from a modest community 'don' to the international figure described by United States authorities as one of the most dangerous drug and arms dealers in the world today.

DESCRIBED by Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, a former head of the Jamaica Defence Force, who later became commissioner of police, as the "Mother of all Garrisons", Tivoli Gardens has been the most feared inner-city community in Jamaica for the past five decades.

Official crime statistics show that virtually no crimes are committed in Tivoli Gardens, although its best known residents are regarded as the most dangerous and ruthless persons in Jamaica.  Such is the fear of the Tivoli 'dons' that blanket assurances can be given for the security of any person's property or life in the community on their say-so.

The world famous Wednesday night street dance "Passa Passa" is a classic example of this.  Patrons are assured that if they leave their vehicles open and unmanned these will not be interfered with.  This has held true since the inception of the event seven years ago.

Tivoli is a self-sufficient community, boasting schools, churches, a variety of shops, a state-of-the-art maternity and pre-natal clinic, tailor and barber shops, hairdressers, dressmakers, bars and food shops, shoemakers and an assortment of playfields.

The community is adjacent to the Coronation Market (now being rebuilt after being gutted during the ongoing unrest), and opposite the famed Miles Pharmacy which offers anything from prescription and over-the-counter drugs to good luck books and candles, fresh bread and even bar services.

It required someone of real and rare vision to conceptualise this community, and a special breed of men to maintain it.

Starting with Zackie, the 'High Priest', followed by Claudie 'Jack' Massop, then for a short while Carl 'Bya' Mitchell, through Lester Lloyd 'Jim Brown' Coke, to his son Anthony 'Jah T' Coke and now on-the-run Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

During the reign of the successive dons, there has always been a cadre of feared men 'upside' them. Zackie had a young Claudie Massop; 'Bobeye', who later became known as Jim Brown; Alvin George Gordon, 'Micky Jacques' and Desmond Paige, who was charged along with Gordon for one of the earliest politically motivated gun slayings back in the late 1960s.

Jim Brown was supported by Micky Jacques, George Dinall 'Rock', Donovan Jones, one of two enforcers called 'Left Hand', 'Hunch', and a host of others.

Jah T's reign ran concurrently with his father's, as Jim Brown died on February 23, 1992, the same day Jah T was buried. It was decided after the death of the elder Coke that adopted son, Christopher 'Dudus' would take over.

He had no shortage of lieutenants, and unlike his father, he shied away from publicity and attention. Jim Brown, chief enforcer for the feared Shower Posse, would occasionally showcase an awesome array of jewellery and silk clothing, while Dudus always dressed modestly.

They were dissimilar in other respects as Jim was a tall, imposing figure, with a sharp wit and an always ready, swift and often brutal response to adversity, while Dudus stands no taller than five feet seven inches and speaks softly, and only when necessary.

Dudus inherited a kingdom, handed down from the mainly US-based Shower Posse, and took it to another level. Once installed as head of Tivoli, Dudus ensured that politics would be no barrier to his organisation.

Persons deported from the US and the United Kingdom with only their shirts on their backs and pockets devoid of cash, could find a measure of comfort from Coke, who would ensure that all their overseas contacts were preserved, and utilised.

As a result, Coke was not seen as just the leader of Tivoli Gardens, but indeed the leader of all inner-city communities.

Media reports which claimed that Dudus often met with Matthews Lane strongman 'Zeeks' Phipps are incorrect.

Dudus would only see Phipps if Phipps came to Tivoli, and then only reluctantly would he have audience. He never saw himself on the same page as Zeeks and made that abundantly clear.

Dudus always kept himself in shape, playing hours of football in his kingdom.  He also kept himself well-informed about current affairs and persons in the news.

I have met with Dudus on several occasions, always in Tivoli, and I know quite a bit about how he thinks about local public opinion.

I recall taking a curious television behind-the-scenes personality to meet "The President", and he was shocked that at the first mention of his name, Dudus was able to pinpoint his job position at the television station.

This was always the man: shrewed, informed, confident, unassuming and quiet but exuding an air of capability that would put anyone on alert.

This is Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

I clearly remember his anger, suppressed though it was, when policemen were killed, apparently in retaliation for the police shooting the day before of 'Chris Royal' Coke, another relative.

He had no hesitation in advising the security forces who wished to interview him, about his whereabouts and the time when he would be in various places. He had nothing to do with those killings and thus, had nothing to fear.

He always felt that he had an obligation to the Tivoli community and he provided for the residents.

Labelled a criminal fugitive at the time of writing, Dudus may be all that he is made out to be by the US authorities, but he has always been a caring person, just as his predecessors were.

No matter what, as the residents of Tivoli Gardens maintain, they are prepared to die for the man, do anything for him, and display what seems by all accounts to be a genuine affection for him, not born from his generosity, but from his concern for them.

Dudus is not a run of the mill ordinary Joe, looking to make some money and in search of power. He has never been and he will never be regarded by those who have known him, in that light.

I have personally known all the previous 'dons' of Tivoli Gardens. I had a special affection for Massop; I was closely involved with Bya; I watched Jah T go through high school at Wolmer's; I was particularly close to Jim Brown, and although not as close to Dudus as I was to his father, the younger Coke has commanded my respect.

Having no way of communicating with him, I can only hope that, somehow, though highly unlikely, something positive will work out for him.

June 06, 2010

jamaicaobserver

A vile attack on the Jamaican State

jamaicaobserver editorial:



The obviously co-ordinated strikes on four police stations in West Kingston by criminal gunmen yesterday represent a vile attack on the State that this newspaper strongly condemns.

That the lumpen gunmen also torched one of the police stations -- that in Hannah Town -- and fired on policemen who were clearing roadblocks in West Kingston demonstrate their utter disregard for law and order, and flies in the face of the very responsible and tolerant approach that the police have so far taken in their effort to execute an arrest warrant on Mr Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

Based on police reports that gangsters from other communities outside of Kingston and St Andrew have gone into Tivoli Gardens, supposedly to give support to Mr Coke and his defenders, it is clear that his tentacles spread far and wide, and his influence is very strong.

But that influence, we maintain, resides with the minority of Jamaicans, and as such the majority, law-abiding among us need to make a united stand against the terrorism that these riffraffs seek to unleash on the country.

It is against that background that we endorse the limited State of Public Emergency that has been imposed on Kingston and St Andrew by the Government.

While we support the measure giving the security forces additional powers of search and arrest, we caution the law enforcers to utilise these powers with responsibility. For just one case of abuse of a citizen will erode the gains the security forces have made over the past few days with the way they have handled this extradition matter.

However, we urge the security forces to use this opportunity to clean up the mess that has stained this country for too many years. And in doing so, they need to ignore the politicians -- on both sides -- who have more than proven to us that they have no idea, if any desire, to deal effectively with crime.

May 24, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

Diehards defend Embattled west Kingston strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke

Diehards defend 'Dudus'
jamaica-gleaner:





Embattled west Kingston strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke received a fillip yesterday as thousands of vocal residents of Tivoli Gardens and adjoining communities took to the streets supporting him.

The protesters, mainly women and children dressed in white, started their demonstration at the intersection of Industrial Terrace and Spanish Town Road just after 8 yesterday morning.

Initially, they concentrated on the reports by the police that they were being forced to stay at home and that their cellular phones had been confiscated by thugs backing Dudus.

"Dem a talk about our phones take away and if we leave we can't come back and that is a lie," declared one angry protester.

"Anybody can come into Tivoli and see the situation. We can go and come as we want, we can walk peacefully and see mi phone here," the woman added.

Her friend rushed to address the Gleaner team as she blasted the police for their claims.

"We a no hostage, a lie the police a tell because them no like the 'Big Man'. We happy and them fi leave we alone," the scantily clad woman said.

But the focus of the protesters quickly changed as they voiced their opposition to any plan to extradite the man they call 'The President'.

"No Dudus, no Jamaica. Dudus a feed the whole a wi and them fi leave him. The police them always have problems with the Coke dem. If you have a pickney now and him name Coke, by the time him reach 20-year-old them a go accuse him," another protester charged.

The protesters also had harsh words for Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller and the party's point man on the extradition matter, Dr Peter Phillips.

"Portia must tell we if the PNP did extradite Anthony Brown and George Flash when them did wanted. How them did have them man deh free and now them want fi extradite Dudus. A just politics them a play," one woman said, referring to two men who topped the police most-wanted list in the 1970s and '80s.

Not about politics

"Dudus tell we fi wear white today and not green because this is not about politics, and the PNP, dem a play politics and Dudus only want peace," another protester said. Green is the colour of the Jamaica Labour Party which the residents of Tivoli support.

With a strong police presence and marshals from the community ensuring that persons did not block Spanish Town Road, the protesters chanted loudly for more than two hours before a shout from one of their leaders saw them heading across Spanish Town Road into the heart of downtown Kingston.

Around St William Grant Park and across East Queen Street went the crowd which was growing by the minute.

Then came the shout "mek wi march to Gleaner", signalling a sharp left turn on to Duke Street towards the North Street offices of The Gleaner Company.

But by then, the police had had enough and after allowing the demonstrators free rein through the heart of the commercial centre, the cops used their vehicles to form a line on Duke Street in the vicinity of the country's Parliament building, Gordon House.

A single explosion from a policeman's gun was enough to convince the protesters that the cops were serious and that it was time to head along Beeston Street down North Street and back into Tivoli Gardens.

May 21, 2010

jamaica-gleaner

Bahamas Blog International