By Robert Hart, Staff ReporterDENOUNCING THE Opposition for being alarmist, Senator A.J. Nicholson, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, yesterday sought to allay concerns that the new terrorist legislation could be used to suppress critics of the Government.
Responding in part to a speech made by Opposition Leader Edward Seaga during Sunday's public meeting at the JLP's 60th Anniversary Conference at the National Arena, Senator Nicholson im-plored the Opposition, and others who have expressed apprehension, to allow a full debate on the Bill before encouraging more controversy.
He also stated decisively that the Terrorism Prevention Act was "not intended to create a state of emergency".
"It cannot be in the interest of our country to make assertions in public that tend to give the impression that the Government is seeking, by any provision in the Bill, to suppress dissent or to terrorise the Opposition," the Justice Minister said, speaking at a press conference yesterday.
On Sunday, Mr. Seaga vowed to oppose the Terrorism Prevention Act in its present form, claiming that the governing People's National Party could not be trusted with the power such "fearsome legislation" would bring.
Mr. Seaga had also suggested the legislation would bring "much of the same draconian powers as a state of emergency".
"Such assertions are not good for Jamaica nationally, they are not good for Jamaica internationally. If there is disagreement concerning any provision that is included in the Bill, let us not use words such as 'pernicious', and 'insidious'," Senator Nicholson said yesterday. He was making reference to public comments made on the Act in the wake of the Opposition Leader's outcry.
Senator Nicholson noted that the legislation is Jamaica's response to a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) mandate, directing all member states to take steps to combat terrorism in light of the September 2001 attacks on the United States.
"On our statute books, burning down of the dockyard is a terrorist offence, or, if you go and try to do anything to any of those planes at Norman Manley or Sangster, those can be terrorist acts. But this comprehensive approach was first directed by the UNSC. It is not something that each country decided by itself," he added.
Speaking to The Gleaner yesterday, Opposition spokesman on National Security, Derrick Smith, said he had not yet gone "in depth" in reviewing the Act.
Stating that the bill will be taken to a Joint Select Committee, he said: "For me to get into what is in it now is futile."
Mr. Smith noted, however, that with regard to the JLP's position on the matter, "what Mr. Seaga said at conference still stands."
During yesterday's briefing, Senator Nicholson noted that the definition of a terrorist act excludes "lawful advocacy, protest, dissent or stoppage of work that is not intended to result in death, serious bodily harm, endanger a person's life, or cause a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or any segment of the public."
The Director of Public Prosecutions, he added, would face the burden of proving that the activities of an individual fall under the definition of a terrorist act.
