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Thread: Ottawa nixed extradition deal, says Pot Prince Emery

  1. #1
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    Exclamation Ottawa nixed extradition deal, says Pot Prince Emery

    Compliments of MedPot.net Forums
    http://medpot.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=62511
    Source: National Post
    Link: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=404225
    Letter to the editor: http://tinyurl.com/3agn6t

    Ottawa nixed extradition deal, says Pot Prince Emery

    Ian Mulgrew, Canwest News Service
    Published: Thursday, March 27, 2008

    VANCOUVER -- A tentative deal between Marc Emery and the
    U.S.
    government over money laundering and drug charges has been
    nixed by
    Ottawa, the marijuana crusader said Thursday.

    Mr. Emery says the federal Conservatives have refused to go
    along
    with a proposal that would have seen him spend five years
    behind
    bars for selling marijuana seeds through the mail.

    Under the defunct pact, Mr. Emery was to plead guilty on
    both sides
    of the border and accept a sentence of 10 years imprisonment
    on the
    understanding he would serve half, mostly in Canada.

    "All that was required for this deal was a rubber stamp from
    the
    federal government," Mr. Emery said.

    "They have, instead, rejected the deal without explanation .
    . it
    is clearly political."

    There was no immediate confirmation of Mr. Emery's claim
    from the
    federal government.

    The longtime cannabis crusader said he originally agreed to
    the jail
    time in part to spare his associates and co-accused Michelle
    Rainey
    and Gregg Williams from prosecution and prison.

    "I was willing, the Americans were willing and all that we
    needed
    was the Conservative government to also agree," the
    50-year-old said.

    "I certainly didn't think that would be a problem. After
    all, I was
    agreeing to serve five years for a crime that would result
    in little
    over a month in jail for any one of the many seed-sellers
    operating
    then, and now, in Vancouver and across Canada."

    The trio was charged in Aug. 2005 after a raid by local
    police and
    American law-enforcement agents on MR. Emery's downtown
    Vancouver
    headquarters. They were accused of violating U.S. laws even
    though
    none had ventured south of the border.

    Mr. Emery was the primary target, in particular, he says,
    because of
    his decade-long campaign to end the criminal prohibition
    against
    cannabis in North America.

    "The Americans targeted me for my political views and
    activism," he
    said.

    "And now my own government won't go along with an
    American-endorsed
    deal because they want me gone."

    U.S. prosecutors have offered Mr. Williams and Ms. Rainey
    jail
    sentences in the three-to-five-month range and probation in
    exchange
    for guilty pleas.

    Ms. Rainey, who suffers from Crohn's disease, was Emery's
    longtime
    right-hand but has since become one of the country's leading
    medical
    marijuana advocates.

    "It's in the hands of my lawyer," she said about the deal.
    "But it
    may be the best option under the circumstances."

    Williams, too, sees the deal as attractive compared to the
    prospect
    of a potential 10- to 20-plus-year sentence in an American
    penitentiary.

    "It is hard for me to believe that marijuana is even
    illegal, much
    less that I'm facing the possibility of life in prison," he
    told
    me. "I'm stunned that our government can't deal with
    cannabis in our
    society in an adult way."

    The political landscape has changed dramatically since MR.
    Emery
    began politicking for cannabis over a decade ago.

    From 1998 until his arrest, MR. Emery even paid provincial
    and
    federal taxes as a "marijuana seed vendor" totalled nearly
    $600,000.

    "Over the last 10 years, I operated openly and
    transparently," MR.
    Emery insisted.

    "Six times a year, I sent every Member of Parliament a copy
    of my
    seed catalogue. I donated tens of thousands to politicians
    of every
    party, at every level of government. They all gladly cashed
    my
    cheques knowing full well the source of the money. Under the
    definition of the law, they are all guilty of money
    laundering, the
    very crime I'm being extradited for."

    Kirk Tousaw, one of the lawyers involved in the defence
    team, said
    the government's stance seemed to run counter to the
    country's "traditional commitment to freedom, justice and
    compassion."

    "We know that most Canadians understand that marijuana is a
    relatively harmless plant that should not be illegal," he
    said.

    The last time Mr. Emery was convicted in Canada of selling
    cannabis
    seeds, back in 1998, he was given a $2,000 fine.

    Vancouver Sun

  2. #2
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    Please please please let them do the right thing. Good luck to the 3 . Peace GS
    Changing the color of cannabis one grower at a time.

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