Marc Emery arrested in extradition bid (Merged & updated 3/20/06)

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latinlovegod99

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Well America, looks like Bush not only wants to force his views on US, but also on our neighbors to the north. This is absolute bullshit. Seattle DEA raided the BCMP (BC Marijuana Party) bookstore today. They are trying to extradite Marc Emery (the Prince of Pot) to the US to stand trial, as well as some of his associates. Charges are money laundering, conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, and conspiracy to distribute seeds. Here's the story...

July 29, 2005
Vancouver marijuana store raided
VANCOUVER (CP) - Police raided a business run by the head of the B.C.
Marijuana Party on Friday based on a search warrant that was requested
by the U.S. government.

Marc Emery, the leader of the party, was not at the store when it was
raided but Chris Bennett, who witnessed the raid and is an employee of
Pot TV, said Emery had been arrested in Halifax.

Authorization to conduct the raid was made Thursday by Associate Chief
Justice Patrick Dohm of the B.C. Supreme Court under the Mutual Legal
Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.

Several officers, some in plain clothes, some in uniform, raided the
marijuana seed and paraphernalia store on West Hastings Street in
downtown Vancouver owned by Emery, who the search warrant also
described by his alias "The Prince of Pot."

The search warrant named Emery, Gregory Williams and Michelle
Rainey-Fenkarek. Bennett said Williams was taken into police custody at
the store on Friday while Rainey-Fenkarek was arrested at her home on
Thursday night.

Police were not immediately available to comment on whether any arrests
had been made.

The store, named Toker's Bowl, is adjacent to the New Amsterdam Cafe
where people have been smoking marijuana openly for years.

Several people gathered outside the store to protest the raid, many
holding anti-American signs.

Police sealed off the store and covered the windows with paper while
they conducted their search.

The search warrant sets out a long list of requests made by the United
States to the Vancouver police department.

In the warrant, the U.S. alleges that those named in it have conspired
to manufacture marijuana, conspired to distribute marijuana seeds and
conspired to engage in money laundering.

The warrant requests that police seize cash and receipts, client lists
and other records identifying purchasers of goods from Emery, and
employee records, including applications for employment.

It also asks for business and company incorporation documents, leases,
rental agreements, computers, hard drives, diskettes and CD-ROMS.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Law/Marijuana/2005/07/29/pf-1152768.html
Click to expand...
There are people already protesting in front of the BCMP bookstore, so if you're near by make the trip and join! This is one of those times where we can actually make a difference! If you can't make it, please make a call to the Seattle DEA (not from home or traceable lines of course) at (206) 553-5443 and voice your disapproval!

[edit: separated article from personal remarks]
 
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Marc Emery arrested in extradition bid

B.C. pot activist arrested in extradition bid
CTV.ca News Staff
Fri. Jul. 29 2005
http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1122667113835_118076313?hub=TopStories

Police raided a marijuana seed store run by the B.C. Marijuana Party leader in Vancouver Friday, at the request of U.S. authorities in Seattle.

In connection with the 11 a.m. raid, Greg Williams a.k.a. "Marijuana Man" was arrested at the store, Michele Rainey at her Vancouver home and high-profile B.C. Marijuana Party leader Marc Emery was picked up in Nova Scotia while attending "Hempfest 2005."

U.S. officials are accusing the trio of growing marijuana, distributing marijuana seeds and conspiring to engage in money laundering, following an 18-month investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Emery runs a mail-order website that distributes marijuana seeds to clients in a variety of countries, including the United States.

At a news conference in Seattle, U.S. authorities announced they've asked for Emery to be extradited to the U.S. to face drug charges.

Seattle DEA Special Agent Rod Benson said that Emery displayed an "overwhelming arrogance and abuse of the rule of law."

"The message here is clear," Benson said. "Those engaged in the cultivation, and trafficking of illegal drugs will eventually pay a steep price."

The price of a conviction could carry a sentence ranging from 10 years to life in prison.

Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office Jeff Sullivan said the charges are based on what Emery allegedly does in the U.S. and not what he does in Canada.

Vancouver Constable Howard Chow said Canadian law enforcement was approached by the DEA to aid in the investigation.

"The DEA came to us about a year ago surrounding Marc Emery and asked for our assistance in the criminal investigation that had to do with trafficking a controlled substance," Chow told CTV.ca News. "It's an ongoing investigation. There may be further charges that come out of this.

Emery's site has been operating for more than five years with no action being taken until today.

"It just comes in terms of resources and priority. We get information and we act on it and we deal with it at that time," Chow said.

"You can expect that anybody who engages in criminal activity on a high profile, such as Marc Emery does -- you're not going to expect to do it forever before you have to account for your actions."

Known as "The Prince of Pot", the leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party has been a vocal advocate for the legalization of marijuana.

In 1994, Emery opened a Vancouver-based store called Hemp BC selling marijuana paraphernalia. Police raided his store in 1996 and again in 1998, confiscating his entire stock.

After those raids, Emery opened the mail-order business selling the seeds. He also publishes "Cannabis Culture" magazine and runs "Pot TV" on the Internet.

He ran for mayor of the city of Vancouver in 1996 and again in 2002, coming in fifth place.

In 2004, Emery served a 90-day sentence in a Saskatoon jail for passing a marijuana joint.

Party spokesperson Kirk Tousaw said he had not spoken to Emery since the raid.

"I can express a pretty significant disappointment that police would choose to go this route to go after Marc and others who have been operating there for years with no harm to anyone," Tousaw told CTV.ca News.

"The timing stinks. They do it on Friday so that they can keep you in jail the maximum amount of time before you can be released on bail," said Tousaw.

Emery's operation on West Hastings houses a hemp shop, a book store, the headquarters for PotTV and the operations behind an Internet-based seeds sales company.

According to police, Emery's seed business rakes in about $3 million a year.

Related link: U.S. seeks extradition of Canadian pot crusader
http://sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/07/29/pot-raid050729.html
 
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To me this represents an important litmus test for Canada's sovereignty. Marc Emery used to run a book store in London Ontario, my birthplace; he may be a little weird but he's harmless. Just a really vocal marijuana activist, I don't really support him but I think if Canada wants to express any sovereignty we'll refuse the extradition. I won't be surprised if we cozy up to the US and hand him over though.
 
I don't understand one thing. Are marijuana seeds legal in Canada? IF they are, there is no way that charge can have any bearing? That would be like America going over to Amsterdam and arresting people for poss. of marijuana....

I think the reason the U.S. acted on this is similiar to the reasoning behind the attacks on the cocaine plantations in Colombia. Stop the drug at the source.

With that kind of rationale I don't disagree entirely with what they did, however we should stop this problem "at the source" just as their reasoning, and get drugs legalized.

Oh well. I guess he can be the "Prince of Prison" now.
 
Marc Emery Arrested soon to be extradited on DEA orders

It appears that with some leaning the DEA has managed to have the Canadian government shift its rather unclear and constantly debated stance on cannabis to become nothing more than another extention of draconian Amerik(kk)a. This shift was crystalized in the sychronized arrest of Marc Emery while he visited Halifax and the raiding of his seeds and paraphernalia store housed in the BC Marijuana Party headquarters. Both are claimed to be carried out by local RCMP at the request of the DEA.

So um yeah apperently Canada isn't so free after all. Not sure how long before they publically declare my fair country the 51st State, but I can tell you I am Canadian and if this imperialist bullshit goes unchecked us Canucks could end up as even more of an amerik(kk)an tool than we already are.

So to be nice and productive please visit Pot.tv to get the whole story. They also have contact info to tell that tratorous douche bag Irwin Cotler what a coward he is, and remind him which country we live in and what a commitment we as Canadians have to the rights we've fought and waited so long for.

Links
=======
CBC #1
CBC #2
Pot TV #1
Pot TV #2
 
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It's about time. Marc Emery is a classless piece of shit. He hasn't done anything for "the cause", he just wants to exploit our prohibitionist situation in order to make money. I hope none of you guys actually buy into the fact that he wants to legalize, he wants it to stay illegal more than anyone because if it was legalized he wouldn't have a business anymore. He's making money off of our shitty situation.
 
i have smoked at that place alot of time. I would have fucking either faught or ran when the police busted in. I dont even think many seeds where located there
 
While I respect your opinion and right to have it I must disagree. The people being effected by this bust and other's like it and the extradition laws they attempt to assist are very community minded from what I have witnessed. Having met Marc personally on many occasions I have had an opportunity to witness his generosity to the community. Entheogenesis is a perfect example of this, wherein the public was given direct access to very knowledgeable and experienced advocates against the drug war. If that isn't a satisfactory example, perhaps the fact that much of the BCMP and POT.TV and Vancouver advocacy funding is provided by Marc, not to mention the recent Iboga treatment that was mentioned in MAPS. As for Marc being against legalization, well I'll leave it at this, being as he has traveled Canada on various occasions to lobby for it and faced the law head on in nearly as many occasions (as they are usually linked when your passing joints in front of a police station) I believe he has done much more that I or any other person I know to advance legalization.

With that in mind I would once again like to request assistance on his behalf. However, as Voltaire was once surmised " I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
 
USA not OK ...tread elsewhere!

FREE MARC EMERY! -"I advocate the position of liberty, the position of justice, the position of non-violent freedom for all people to do what they want, to put in their body what they want, and to act in a manner that is suitable to them without interference from others, especially their government."
-Marc Emery



...arrest your own citizens and leave the Canadians to their peace and freedom. Stop making your laws the only laws. Pressuring other countries to conform is starting to make the USA look like other well known ...brain washing "democracies"! (think middle east)
I find it extremely sad that Canadian's feel like they're under thumb, from of all peoples ...AMERICANS!
BACK OFF ...get your own sammich!

here's a little background

BC MARIJUANA PARTY
 
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Re: USA not OK ...tread elsewhere!

EsourceR said:
...arrest your own citizens and leave the Canadians to their peace and freedom.
Click to expand...

The dude was shipping seeds to the US.. chances are the bulk of his business was US based. It's not like the US wants him extradited for crimes he has committed in Canada, he's wanted for crimes he has committed inside the US. If you don't want to be arrested by the US gov't don't commit crimes here ;)
 
From the Toronto Star August 2, 2005:
Aug._2, 2005. 06:52_AM
>ADVERTISEMENT<

KÂTÉ LEBLANC/TORONTO STAR
Steven Bacon protests the arrests of three pot activists while smoking a joint yesterday in front of the U.S. Consulate in Toronto.
_ GTA COLUMNISTS _

> Jim Coyle _

> Rosie Dimanno _

> Joe Fiorito _

> Christopher Hume _

> Royson James _Shame on Canada, pot protestors say
Trio of Canadians violate U.S. law by selling seeds
Surprise arrests authorized by B.C. Supreme Court


ISABEL TEOTONIO
STAFF REPORTER
Canada should be ashamed for arresting a prominent Canadian marijuana rights activist on charges of violating American drug laws, marijuana advocates said here yesterday after demonstrating against the arrest.

B.C. Marijuana Party leader Marc Emery, who sells marijuana seeds over the Internet, was arrested by RCMP in Nova Scotia Friday on a warrant issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Although selling marijuana seeds is legal in Canada, it's a violation of U.S. law.

"Ottawa should be ashamed ... for selling off Canadians to keep good relations with Uncle Sam," Jessica Aulthouse said yesterday outside the U.S. Consulate General on University Ave., where 30 people gathered to protest the arrest of Emery and two of his colleagues.

"I want the Canadian government to make decisions based on what people here want and not what foreign heads want," said Aulthouse, who travelled to Toronto from Niagara Region.

The surprise arrests were authorized by the B.C. Supreme Court under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.

The three now face extradition and, if convicted, punitive sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison.

Emery, 47, Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, 34, financial agent for the party and Greg Williams, 50, an employee of Pot-TV, all face U.S. charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, distribute seeds and engage in money laundering.

The arrests came after the trio was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in May following an 18-month investigation by American police into the sale of marijuana seeds on the Internet and by mail.

At a similar pro-Emery rally in Vancouver Saturday, some 200, including visiting Americans, protested the arrests.

Canadian officials have a long history of trying to dethrone Emery, who's been dubbed the Canadian Prince of Pot because he's among the world's biggest dealers in marijuana seeds. While he's been convicted of various drug-related charges since 1994, when he opened a store in Vancouver that now sells marijuana paraphernalia, he's only ever been sentenced once. Last year, he was slapped with three months in jail for passing a joint at a pot rally in Saskatoon.

Emery has long insisted on selling seeds because they don't contain enough THC, the mood-altering ingredient in marijuana, to qualify as a banned substance. But since he stopped selling them over the counter and started selling them in cyberspace, Canadian authorities have for the most part left him alone.

Currently, his seed-selling business is booming, Rod Benson, the special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, told reporters in Seattle on Friday. It sells about $3 million worth of seeds each year, mostly to the U.S.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
`I see this as part and parcel of a very great push by the U.S ... to invade us with their will'

Connie Fogal, Canadian Action Party


------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unlike here, authorities south of the border believe that selling marijuana seeds is the same as selling marijuana.


Rainey-Fenkarek and Williams were arrested in Vancouver. As city police were raiding his pot paraphernalia store, Emery was arrested in Lawrencetown, N.S., where he'd been scheduled to speak at a music festival that raises money for the group Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana.

Rainey-Fenkarek was released on $25,000 bail Friday, but both Williams and Emery spent the weekend in custody. Both men are to appear in a Vancouver court today for a bail hearing.

Calls to Justice Minister Irwin Cotler's office yesterday were not returned. However, many have called the arrests a flagrant display of American bullying.

"The ability (for Americans) to come into our country and ask for our help to take (Emery) away so they can punish him for their kinds of laws is immoral, " said Connie Fogal, leader of the Canadian Action Party, which promotes Canadian nationalism.

"It's not just their approach to marijuana. I see this as part and parcel of a very great push by the U.S., not to just exercise its clout, but to invade us with their will. They don't have to use guns, tanks and missiles, because they've got political wimps here who bow down to them," said Fogal, who's also a lawyer in Vancouver.

Her comments were loudly echoed yesterday by protestors outside the U.S. consulate on University Ave.

"Today's a big day, not just for the marijuana movement but for all Canadians," said Alison Myrden, sitting in a wheelchair and holding a sign that read, "Marc Emery Saved my Life," as she took drags from a marijuana joint.

"Marc is a legitimate businessman, he's always been above board," said Myrden.

She added that Emery has often sent her money so she could afford to buy marijuana to ease the pain brought on by by 28 years of living with multiple sclerosis.

Protest organizer Matt Mernagh, a medicinal user of marijuana, called Emery's arrest a "gross insult to Canadian sovereignty."

But "it's an excellent opportunity to get rid of someone who's a pain in their ass — they can't get him in Canada so they'll send him to the U.S.," Mernagh said.

"The government has washed their hands of this."

with files from Canadian Press
Click to expand...
 
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Re: Re: USA not OK ...tread elsewhere!

frizzantik said:
The dude was shipping seeds to the US.. chances are the bulk of his business was US based. It's not like the US wants him extradited for crimes he has committed in Canada, he's wanted for crimes he has committed inside the US. If you don't want to be arrested by the US gov't don't commit crimes here ;)
Click to expand...

...i was trying to be subtle ...my point was:
arrest the americans for buying the seeds
...not a canadian for shipping them to an address!
...are they going to arrest individuals for providing services?
you can order just about anything over the net.
Emery is the scape goat ...in a feeble, coerced attempt, to make an example out of free thinking, outspoken, identifiable Canadians and in the bigger picture ...our way of life.

Sorry Canada, but now's not the time to bend over and take it from the ...(*fill in blank).
Our sovereignty must be protected for the rights of all Canadians and our easily recognizable freedom and free-thinking attitude.

Seriously? ...10 years in prison for selling seeds? Canada has only once convicted Marc Emery. The seeds are harmless ...they could be bought anywhere in the world if you want! But they targeted a political figure ...for "the cause". Pitiful bullying.
give it up ALREADY! ...that is the american way ...plain and simple fact of truth here, ...not to be impolite or anything ...
....definitely NOT THE CANADIAN WAY.


And that fact about our amazing differences,
is EXACTLY why ....Canada and other countries like it
...have captured the heart and love of the world.
We're generous and free.
Now all we have to do is learn to fight. ;)

Spirit must prevail over propagandizers!
... if Canada's culture is to survive beyond the intense corruption of often evil bureaucrats.
We musn't let the US "expidite us" to conform to their ways and thinking.

Look at the shit storm legal gay marriage made in the US!
Nice timing of the arrest too. Sheer political genius DEA!

As a polite non-aggressive Canadian ...i'm just going to shut up for now. Since I know there will be a debate about border issues for all eternity. No one wins here. Just another game of chess.

I dream of bringing down the borders and living together in harmony. Silly eh? Well I guess I'm just a Canadian at heart.
Canadian's are much closer to this dream than the US will ever care to admit.

Meanwhile, don't throw your junk in my backyard...eh! :p
 
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Toronto Star August 3, 2005
Aug._3, 2005. 06:47_AM
>ADVERTISEMENT<

_ STAR COLUMNISTS _

> Graham Fraser _

> Richard Gwyn _

> Stephen Handelman _

> Chantal Hebert _

> James Travers _

> Ian Urquhart _

> Thomas Walkom _B.C. pot activist granted bail
Lawyer says activities were tolerated for years
U.S. wants three Canadians extradited in case


AMY CARMICHAEL
CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER—Canadian justice officials can't turn pot activist Marc Emery over to the United States to face possible life in prison after ignoring his sale of marijuana seeds in this country for nearly a decade, his lawyer said yesterday.

"For nine years he's been doing this quite openly," John Conroy told a news conference after Emery was granted bail. "They've known about it; the local authorities haven't done anything about it."

Emery is accused of selling seeds out of his bookstore in downtown Vancouver and over the Internet. He also runs Cannabis Culture magazine and is the leader of the British Columbia Marijuana Party.


Conroy said Emery has long had tacit permission from Canadian authorities to sell seeds, adding that even Health Canada has directed people who are allowed to possess pot for medical conditions to the Internet to buy seeds.

"Here we have a situation where they turn a blind eye locally and now they're in a position of assisting the U.S. to try to have him extradited to the U.S., where the penalties are substantially greater than here," Conroy said.

Bail was set at $50,000 for Emery, who faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison if convicted in the U.S.

Emery's co-accused, Greg Williams and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, were also granted bail.

They face charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds and a third of conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

The U.S. wants the trio extradited after they were indicted by a federal grand jury in May following an 18-month investigation by American police into the sale of marijuana seeds on the Internet and by mail.

The pot paraphernalia store that Emery runs was raided on Friday by Vancouver police after a warrant was issued at the request of U.S. justice officials.


Supporters, who regularly come together in rallies to support Emery's political and legal causes, packed the gallery seats around his wife, Cheryl, during Emery's court appearance.

Outside the court, one demonstrator waved a massive Canadian flag bearing a marijuana leaf instead of a maple leaf.

Others criticized the extradition request. Emery's lawyer agreed.

"It seems to me if you do anything on the Internet that's illegal in the U.S., or that they don't like, you do run the risk of the U.S. federal government taking a position that you're doing things that somehow impact on their sovereignty," Conroy said.

"In effect, they have some power over you no matter where you are."

But a spokesperson for Justice Minister Irwin Cotler brushed aside the suggestion from Emery's supporters that Ottawa is taking its orders from U.S. justice authorities, pointing out that a process exists for law enforcement officials on both sides of the border to seek the apprehension of suspects.

"A foreign country is allowed to make a request for arrest and extradition of people who are sought in criminal cases ... That's why we have extradition treaties like the one we have with the United States," said Christian Girouard, adding he couldn't discuss the details of Emery's case.

With files from Sean Gordon
Click to expand...
 
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