Pubdate: Mon, 21 Jul 2014
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer (Philippines)
Copyright: 2014 Philippine Daily Inquirer
Contact:  http://www.inquirer.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1073
Author: Jerome Aning
Page: A6

DON'T DEPORT BRITON THROUGH US, SAYS CA OF POT SEED DEALER

THE COURT of Appeals (CA) has directed the Bureau of Immigration (BI) 
to proceed with the deportation of a British cannabis seed trader 
facing charges for money laundering and narcotics trafficking in Maine, USA.

But the appellate court's Special 7th Division ordered that Gypsy 
Nirvana be deported directly to the United Kingdom and not be put on 
a flight that would pass through the United States.

The court, in an 11-page decision dated June 25 but released last 
week, denied Nirvana's plea stopping his deportation, saying that his 
lawyers should have first appealed to the justice secretary and the 
Office of the President before seeking judicial intervention.

The appellate justices, however, took cognizance of Nirvana's refusal 
to set foot on US soil for "fear of his life and/or safety."

No procedural shortcuts

"Expediency cannot justify a resort to procedural shortcuts. The end 
does not justify the means. A meritorious case cannot overshadow the 
condition that the means employed to pursue it must be in keeping 
with the rules," the court said in the decision written by Justice 
Agnes Reyes-Carpio.

Division members Justices Marie Gonzales-Sison and Priscilla 
Baltazar-Padilla concurred in the ruling.

The justices adopted what they called a "Solomonic decision" by 
ordering the BI to book Nirvana on a direct flight to the UK, or one 
that would not stop over on US territory.

Law not heartless

"[H]umanitarian consideration and due regard to the feelings of his 
family in the Philippines compel us to decree the Solomonic decision 
without interfering in the sound discretion of the Executive Branch 
[to deport him]. The law may be harsh, but it does not render us all 
heartless. Indeed the law is solicitous to everyone regardless of his 
station in life," the ruling said.

Nirvana has resided in the Philippines since 2007 and has five 
children by his Filipino girlfriend.

He was arrested in Olongapo City on Aug. 23 last year after the BI 
received information from the US Embassy in Manila about his 
indictment by a US District Court in Bangor, Maine.

Online pot seed business

The Briton, said to be the founder of the online International 
Cannagraphic magazine, was accused by US authorities of engaging in a 
UK-based marijuana seed auction business catering to customers in the 
US. The BI said Nirvana's transactions were done online or through 
mail and wire transfer.

On his blog, Nirvana described the US charges as "ridiculous," saying 
his business of distributing and selling cannabis seeds was legal in 
the UK since the seeds do not contain any narcotic substance at all.

"[T]he US says that cannabis seed is a narcotic, hence, my dilemma. I 
have been a resident of the Philippines since 2007 and have [five] 
children to support and care for. The last thing I want is to be 
deported from this country and then extradited to the US to have to 
face these ridiculous charges," he said.

Petition filed

While detained at the immigration jail in Taguig City, the BI's board 
of commissioners on Sept. 2, 2013, ordered his deportation.

Nirvana filed a petition for habeas corpus in the Manila Regional 
Trial Court the following day, claiming, among other things, that his 
right to due process had been violated.

The RTC judge issued a writ of habeas corpus the same day. It was 
recalled after the hearing held the following day, during which the 
RTC ruled that Nirvana should have first appealed his deportation to 
the secretary of justice and the Office of the President before going to court.

Los Angeles, CA

Nirvana was set to be deported on Sept. 7, 2013, on a Philippine 
Airlines flight to Los Angeles, California, where he was to take a 
connecting flight to London.

The deportation did not push through after Nirvana became unruly at 
the airport and the airline ejected him from the flight.

The Briton, according to the BI, said he did not want to transit US 
territory for fear of his life and safety.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom