Pubdate: Sun, 31 Jul 2005
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Andrea Woo, The Province
Cited: Pot-TV http://pot.tv/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?196 (Emery, Marc)

Long Arm of U.S. Law Riles Protesters

POT LEADER BUSTED

MARC EMERY ONE OF 'MOST WANTED INTERNATIONAL' DRUG TRAFFICKERS

About 100 supporters staged a demonstration -- which at times looked 
more like a circus -- in Vancouver's Victory Square Park yesterday to 
protest a police raid on a business owned by marijuana activist Marc Emery.

Among the protesters, many of whom lit up marijuana cigarettes in 
solidarity with the jailed leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party, was 
"Uncle Scam," a man dressed in a parody of the patriotic American 
icon Uncle Sam.

"Turn in your pot," Uncle Scam yelled, whipping protesters with an 
American flag. "I own you!"

Renee Boje -- the celebrated American fugitive who faces 10 years in 
a U.S. prison for tending marijuana plants in California and is 
currently appealing an order to deport her from Canada -- also made 
an appearance, decked out in a green fairy costume complete with 
sequined pot leafs for wings.

"Americans shouldn't be interfering with Canadian drug policies 
because they have made a mockery of their own drug policies," Boje said.

The demonstration was held across the street from Emery's business, 
which was raided Friday after an 18-month investigation involving 
Vancouver police, the U.S. Attorney's office and 38 U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Administration offices.

Police entered the building shortly before 11 a.m., acting on a 
Canadian search warrant based on American charges in an operation 
conducted under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.

Asked why it took American intervention for Emery to be arrested, 
Vancouver police spokesman Const. Howard Chow said, "This information 
came to us about a year ago . . . and investigations take time."

Brendan Steel, a friend of one of the employees, said that 15 
plainclothes police officers calmly entered the building, located at 
307 West Hastings St., and told the employees to put their hands on 
the counter.

Arrested at the scene was Gregory Keith Williams, 50, of North 
Vancouver. Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, also known as Michelle K. Kale, 
a 34-year-old assistant to B.C. Marijuana Party Leader Marc Emery, 
was arrested at her home.

Emery, 47, was arrested at the same time in Halifax as he prepared to 
speak at a rally for Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana.

Emery is to be returned to Vancouver this week. Assistant U.S. 
attorney Jeff Sullivan said that it could be "anywhere from six 
months to two years before [Emery] is in America facing charges."

Const. Mark Hobeck of the Halifax Regional Police said that Emery 
spent Friday night in a holding cell and the rest of the weekend in 
another correctional facility. Emery will return to Vancouver early 
this week and appear in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday at 10 a.m.

No Canadian charges have been laid against Emery.

Jeff Eig, public information officer for the Seattle division of the 
DEA, said that in the U.S., Emery will face charges of conspiracy to 
manufacture marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds and 
conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

If extradited to the U.S., as American officials want, Emery faces 
life in jail -- a prospect that angered his supporters.

"This is a loss of Canadian sovereignty," said Chris Bennett, manager 
of Emery's Pot-TV website. "America is dictating Canadian policy to 
the extent that they get to pick who gets raided and arrested."

At the protest, demonstrators sang chants of "Go home U.S.A." and 
held signs that read "No victim, no crime" in a crowd that included 
about 50 people at its peak.

"This is not right," yelled one purple-haired employee of the store. 
"Stand up for your rights as a Canadian citizen!"

American officials allege that Emery sold hundreds of thousands of 
dollars worth of marijuana seeds over the Internet to people in the 
U.S. and around the world. They estimate that the bulk of his seeds 
- -- 75 per cent -- are sold to U.S. residents.

A statement by DEA administrator Karen Tandy said Emery and his 
organization was "one of the Attorney General's most wanted 
international drug trafficking organizational targets -- one of only 
46 in the world and the only one from Canada."

Emery has 11 marijuana-related convictions in Canada, but has only 
been jailed once.
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