By Denise Clarke, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE JAMAICA Labour Party (JLP) caretaker for Eastern Westmoreland, Don Foote, has written to Prime Minister PJ Patterson requesting a meeting to discuss the recent search by police of two lawyers offices.
The Prime Minister's office has confirmed receipt of the letter, which condemned the search, and described it as 'a rape of a fundamental right of the Jamaican people.'
"We regard such action by the authorities acting as servant and/or agent of a foreign state as a rape of a fundamental right of the Jamaican people... such action is unknown to our democratic system and is more a feature or tool used to gather evidence under a tyrannical system of governance," Mr. Foote wrote.
Mr. Foote, who is himself an attorney-at-law, told The Gleaner on Monday that he felt compelled to contact the Prime Minister on behalf of the constituents of Eastern Westmoreland, where Mr. Patterson is Member of Parliament. In his letter, Mr. Foote said the meeting was necessary to 'discuss this and other matters of the constituency in order to assuage our fear of any further trespass on our fundamental rights.'
"He is available to us on a constituency level and his personality demonstrates that he listens, and that's why we feel that he will meet with us. I wrote him not only as an attorney, but he being the political representative and my political opponent," Mr. Foote said.
He was referring to the recent search by police of the law offices of attorneys Ernest Smith and Hugh Thompson, following a request from the Canadian Government for documents to assist proceedings and investigations against Robert Bidwell, a 53-year-old Canadian national. Bidwell is wanted in Canada in relation to drug related charges and money laundering.
