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High Court challenge Edwin Stratton

Published: Friday 22 May 2009 12:51 by Gixxer

Tagged as: culture social_struggles
Neighbourhoods: londonuk

Britain's drugs classifications and penalties are arbitrary and unlawful, according to a forthcoming High Court challenge.

A London man has been granted leave to appeal to the High Court for permission to judicially review the decision to try him for the production of cannabis.

Medical-marijuana user Edwin Stratton claims the Government's criminalisation of cannabis does not follow the demands of the law as stated in the Misuse of Drugs Act.

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The High Court judicial review will examine the government's application of the law, based on British legal system rules that say decisions made by public officials must be procedurally fair, lawful and rational and must include relevant factors and exclude irrelevant factors.

His appeal is based on four key issues: The unequal and discriminatory application of the law to controlled and non-controlled drug users, and the maladministration of the Misuse of Drugs Act; and the right to privacy and the protection of property rights, as guaranteed to all citizens under the Human Rights Act.

Mr Stratton, who was charged in May 2008 with production of a controlled substance for his personal cannabis plants, said the Government did not understand its own legislation. While he supports the Misuse of Drugs Act itself, he is essentially challenging the Government's misapplication of the law, by challenging the courts' upholding of that misapplication.

And his claims are supported by the Government's own Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs - the statutory body required to advise on drug laws. In a paper published in The Lancet in 2007 Professor David Nutt, chair of the ACMD, said "The current classification system has evolved in an unsystematic way from somewhat arbitrary foundations with seemingly little scientific basis."

The Misuse of Drugs Act is not a policy for prohibition, but of protection. It covers legislation "with respect to drugs which are being or appear likely to be misused and of which the misuse is having or appears capable of having harmful effects sufficient to constitute a social problem". And it allows for any method of control that best serves in protecting society, including healthcare, education and police intervention.

Mr Stratton says the Government is preoccupied with criminalising cannabis, while other more harmful drugs, namely alcohol and tobacco, remain legal.

And figures from both the Department of Health and Office for National Statistics back him up.

Yearly deaths attributed to tobacco average more than 100,000, alcohol averages around 60,000, while drugs (all drugs, not just cannabis) average less than 1500. When examining death certificates for causes attributed specifically to cannabis, reports state the figures are in some cases single digits, in others, zero.

Professor Nutt concurred in his Lancet paper: "The exclusion of alcohol and tobacco from the Act is, from a scientific perspective, arbitrary."

Mr Stratton said: "The (Misuse of Drugs) Act guarantees that drugs policy must be fair, even-handed and proportionate to the actual harms each drug represents according to evidence.

"The government is arbitrarily picking and choosing the people to whom it applies the law. That is wholly unlawful."

Mr Stratton uses cannabis to alleviate his disabling coeliac condition. It relieves his pain and nausea and increases his appetite, while also enabling him to cut his prescription medication by half.

In May 2008 police entered and searched Mr Stratton's house when a nearby fire was feared to be spreading to neighbouring properties. His personal cannabis crop was discovered, but Mr Stratton rejected a police caution, claiming that under the Human Rights Act the denial of his right to grow and possess was discriminatory, and a violation of his privacy and property rights. He was then charged with the production of a controlled drug. But when he appeared at the Waltham Forest Magistrates Court he declined to plead, and moved to quash the indictment on the basis it was an abuse of process. The magistrate agreed to adjourn proceedings and gave Mr Stratton leave to apply to the High Court for judicial review of the decision to prosecute.

"I'm calling for my prosecution to be forbidden and my indictment to be thrown out, because if the Government doesn't consider alcohol and tobacco to be productive of social problems sufficient to warrant custody for those involved in property activities (possession) of those drugs, the Government has no cause to lock up those who possess less harmful drugs," Mr Stratton said.

"I'm not calling for alcohol to be outlawed, but for users of less harmful drugs to be granted equal human rights to those enjoyed by users of alcohol."

The judicial review, currently in a queue waiting to be heard, has potentially wide-reaching consequences, including setting a precedent that says cannabis criminalisation is unlawful and providing a basis for appeal on cannabis-related convictions.

"All I want is not to be tried, and to have my property and growing equipment returned," Mr Stratton said.

"Of course, the ramifications are the important thing - if the High Court finds that I cannot be tried for growing cannabis, the floodgates may open."

Darryl Bickler, a non-practicing solicitor and founding member of the Drug Equality Alliance, said Mr Stratton's case and argument were strong.

"This case is unique. Frankly, I think it is perfectly timed, and entirely true, so if the courts do their stuff, then it will succeed," he said.

The Home Office refused to comment on Mr Stratton's judicial review, or the potential consequences it poses, until the High Court has handed down its ruling.

Futher info can be found at

http://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-forum/showthread.php?t=10740

http://www.lca-uk.org/lcaforum/viewtopic.php?t=13316

Contact email: duggie953@hotmail.co.uk

Tamil leaders 'killed as they tried to surrender'

copyleft | 20.05.2009 10:16 | Repression | Social Struggles | Terror War

Text messages sent by Sri Lankan officials told the rebels how to give themselves
up. They obeyed the instructions – but were shot dead.

Tamil leaders 'killed as they tried to surrender'

Text messages sent by Sri Lankan officials told the rebels how to give themselves
up. They obeyed the instructions – but were shot dead.

Wednesday, 20 May 2009

The desperate efforts of two senior LTTE leaders trapped in the war zone to save
their lives were revealed yesterday as it emerged they were shot dead as they
prepared to surrender to Sri Lankan government forces.

In a flurry of emails, text messages and telephone calls that passed between NGOs, a
foreign government and Sri Lankan officials in Colombo, the two LTTE political
leaders frantically inquired as to how they could give themselves up.
They were told: "Get a piece of white cloth, put up your hands and walk towards the
other side in a non-threatening manner."

But the attempt to surrender by Balasingham Nadesan, head of the LTTE's wing, and
Seevaratnam Pulidevan, who led the rebels' peace secretariat, failed. Sometime
between midnight on 17 May and the early hours of the next morning, the two men
were shot dead. LTTE officials overseas claim the two men were killed by government
troops as they approached them bearing a white flag. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan
government has suggested the two men may have been shot dead by LTTE fighters,
angry at them fleeing the conflict zone.
The row over the circumstances surrounding the killing of the men came as Sri
Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, told the parliament that the country had been
"liberated from separatist terror". "Our intention was to save the Tamil people from
the cruel grip of the [rebels]. We all must now live as equals in this free
country," he said.

As Mr Rajapaksa spoke, state television broadcast images of the body of rebel leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran, who was killed by government forces on Monday morning. The
bloated body of the LTTE leader was shown dressed in a camouflage uniform and lying
on a stretcher. A piece of blue cloth had been placed on his head, apparently to
cover a bullet wound. "A few hours ago, the body of terrorist leader Prabhakaran,
who ruined this country, was found on the battleground," said army chief General
Sarath Fonseka.
But while Mr Prabhakaran – the man who always vowed to take his own life rather than
surrender – opted to fight to the death with the last of his forces, some of the
so-called "civil members" of the LTTE would have preferred to have lived to fight
another day. Over the weekend, Mr Nadesan and Mr Pulidevan sent out messages,
indicating that they wished to surrender to a third party – namely the International
Committee of the Red Cross, the only aid organisation with access to the conflict
zone.
The chief intermediary for the two men was the Norwegian government's Environment
Minister Erik Solheim, who led efforts to broker a ceasefire between in 2002. On
Sunday 17 May, Mr Solheim apparently received calls from LTTE figures who said they
wanted to surrender.

Trine Eskedal, a spokeswoman for the ministry of foreign affairs in Oslo, said: "The
minister said he spoke with Mr Pulidevan at midnight, who gave him the message that
the political leaders wanted to surrender [to the ICRC]. At the time he could hear
gunshots in the background." She said that an official, then contacted both the ICRC
and the Sri Lankan government.
The ICRC confirmed last night that it had received word from the Norwegians that the
two leaders were looking to give themselves up. "The ICRC was approached on this
matter by the representatives of the LTTE as well as the Norwegian authorities,"
said spokeswoman Sarsai Wijeratne. "The information was referred to the Sri Lankan
authorities. We have no idea what happened [then]. We lost contact with everyone in
the last conflict."
The government's point man in the negotiations appears to have been foreign
secretary Palitha Kohona. He said that in the days leading up to Sunday evening, he
had received a number of messages indicating that Mr Nadesan and Mr Pulidevan – whom
he has met at various peace talks – wanted a way out. It is understood that a number
of these messages were delivered from a European NGO with a history of working in
northern Sri Lanka.

In an interview in his office in the foreign ministry's oceanfront building, Mr
Kohona said that his response had been that "there was only one way to surrender
that is recognised by military practice". He said they should obtain a white flag
and give themselves up. "I kept saying this for three days," he added.
Mr Kohona produced a text message stored on his phone which he had sent to the NGO
at 8.46am on Sunday, 16 hours before the Norwegian minister had his final
conversation with the LTTE leaders. The message – in response to a question from the
NGO as to whether the two political leaders would be safe if they gave themselves up
– read: "Just walk across to the troops, slowly! With a white flag and comply with
instructions carefully. The soldiers are nervous about suicide bombers."
The pro-LTTE website TamilNet yesterday reported claims from rebel officials outside
Sri Lanka that Mr Nadesan and Mr Pulidevan had been shot dead by government troops
as they advanced towards them carrying a white flag, as they had been instructed to
do. The report claimed informed sources said what happened in the early hours of
Monday was "a well-planned massacre of several unarmed civil officers of the LTTE
with the aim of annihilating its political structure".
Experts say that shooting someone trying to surrender was a war crime. ICRC director
of operations Pierre Krähenbühl, told reporters: "Under international humanitarian
law, all those who are not or are no longer fighting must be spared. The wounded and
sick must be cared for immediately and captives must be treated humanely."
But Mr Kohona said he had been told by troops present at the time that they
understood the two men had been shot by LTTE cadres who learned of their attempt to
escape. "This is consistent with their behaviour," he added.

What is clear is that the situation inside the war zone had become increasingly
desperate on Sunday. During the day, squeezed into a strip of land measuring just a
few hundred square metres, the remaining LTTE fighters tried to lay down their arms
to secure a ceasefire. This was rejected by the government and later some of the
rebels attempted a series of suicide attacks on the advancing troops. "This battle
has reached its bitter end," a senior rebel spokesman, Selvarajah Pathmanathan.
It was in these circumstances that the two political leaders – trapped, hopeless and
with no other options – made their final desperate attempt to save their lives. The
Norwegian minister, Mr Solheim, said he had spoken with Mr Pulidevan and later gone
to bed. "The next morning I heard they were dead," he said.
On Monday, as news emerged that the last of the LTTE had been killed, the EU called
for an independent investigation into alleged violations of human rights law in Sri
Lanka's war.

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Make Wars History

83 Priory Gardens, London N6 5QU

PRESS RELEASE >> << 5 / 05 / 09 >> << PRESS RELEASE

CAMPAIGNERS DEMAND THAT THE DPP REINSTATES CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS FOR GENOCIDE AGAINST BLAIR, BROWN AND GOVERNMENT MINISTERS

Chris Coverdale of the Campaign to Make Wars History is appearing at the High Court on Wednesday 6^th May at 10.30 in an oral hearing to appeal the courts decision to refuse a judicial review of the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions to drop criminal proceedings against Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Jack Straw, Geoff Hoon, Lord Goldsmith and other members of the British Government for crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes, against the people of Afghanistan and Iraq.  

Chris Coverdale, a founder member of the Campaign, claims that “Since Parliament, the Government and the Queen took us into the illegal wars with Iraq and Afghanistan we have caused the violent deaths of more than 1m people, including 300,000 children. These massacres are the worst atrocities in British history and constitute the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder, conspiracy to murder and other serious offences under the laws of war.  They have been reported to police on more than 200 occasions but the police, the CPS and the DPP have repeatedly refused to bring criminal proceedings against Britain’s leading war criminals. 

“Now that the attacks on Iraqi and Afghan civilians have been shown to be unlawful, why are our law enforcement authorities refusing to arrest, charge and prosecute Britain’s leaders?  By allowing Blair, Brown and others to repeat their crimes we bring justice into serious disrepute.  The DPP and the CPS are paid from the public purse to prosecute wrongdoers.  They must be forced to do what they are paid to do and prosecute Britain’s leaders for their crimes before a judge and jury in a court of law.” 

Attached are (i) a copy of ‘Accounting for Genocide’ and Chris Coverdale’s submission to the court.  For more information please contact: Make Wars History or Chris Coverdale.

www.makewarshistory.org.uk  

Call for immediate UK compliance with international law on nuclear weapons

Trident Ploughshares | 28.04.2009 12:19 | Anti-militarism

Trident Ploughshares Press Release - Monday 27 April, 2009

Trident Ploughshares has written an open letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown reminding him of Britain's legal obligations to disarm its nuclear weapons, ahead of next month's Preparatory Committee in New York for the 2010 Review Conference of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) [see notes 1, 2, 3]. The letter is additionally being sent to the Defence and Foreign Secretaries, and to the leaders of the major political parties in the UK.

Daniel Viesnik, a spokesperson for Trident Ploughshares and one of the signatories to the letter said:
"All around the world, people from the US President and former statesmen and military generals to rank-and-file campaigners are united in recognising the pressing need for global nuclear disarmament and ridding the world of the threat of nuclear war once and for all.

"It is time for the British Government to tally its words with its actions by no longer deploying its current Trident nuclear weapons, scrapping plans for their replacement and signing up to a Nuclear Weapons Convention - a global ban on nuclear weapons; only then will Britain have any genuine credibility on nuclear disarmament.

"The current economic crisis presents the ideal opportunity for the Government to review the advisability of wasting tens of billions of pounds on illegal, immoral and useless nuclear weapons, and instead focus limited resources on tackling climate change and meeting the genuine needs of society."

ENDS

Notes:

1. Trident Ploughshares is a campaign initiated in 1998 to disarm Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system in a nonviolent, open, peaceful and fully accountable manner.

 http://www.tridentploughshares.org

2. The letter can be seen in full here:
 http://www.tridentploughshares.org/article1552

3. Details of 2009 NPT Preparatory Committee, 4–15 May, New York
 http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/2009index.html

Trident Ploughshares
e-mail: vd2012-tpmedia [at] yahoo.co.uk
Homepage: http://www.tridentploughshares.org

UK and IMF complicit in the Tamil Genocide?

infobass | 28.04.2009 17:41 | Anti-militarism | Globalisation | Terror War | World

Following the 750bn IMF Emergency funding received at the recent G20 leader's Summit in London, the first real test to any improvement in the abysmal human rights record of the International Monetary Fund has been fortified by a 'letter before (legal) action' to the British Government.
This follows similar legal measures taken in the U.S on the Treasury and representative to the IMF.
Miliband visits Sri Lanka on Wed as a legal challenge UK government over IMF funding is mounted.

It is interesting to note that the UK envoy to the UN Sawyers maintained recently that 'IMF Loan Not Relevant' when questioned about the shortfall of Sri Lankan government funds to pay for arms and the *emergency* IMF loan of what is now understood to amount to $2.6 bn.


A "letter before action," yet to be officially released, has been sent to
Rt.Hon. John Hutton, M.P., Secretary of State for Defense,
Rt.Hon. Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
David Miliband, British Foreign Secretary, (FM)
and Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Miliband runs in a hurry to Sri Lanka
==========================
As the news of the legal challenge gets out the FM is travelling in a hurry to Sri Lanka tomorrow (Wed 29 Apr)
Even more interesting is the denial of visa to the influential Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt (who had been instrumental in re-enacting the Bofors gun deal that brought down Rajiv Gandhi 20 years ago, to be sold to region) who scheduled to visit Sri Lanka in a capacity of EU representative.
Earlier Sri Lanka had conceded through a Sri Lankan Presidential Secretariat issued a statement on (Mon 27th Apr) that: “Our security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy calibre guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian casualties.”

Though the Howitzer guns that Bofors specialises in dealing to the regional power India are not used on the Tamils directly, the intricate web regional 'defence' equipment procurement (read arms dealings and dumping of older stock to basket cases like Sri Lanka) are so much in concert that India, China, Iran and Pakistan -- all four -- supply weaponry in concert to fuel the conflict.
It is widely understood that the bulk of the IMF loan is meant to pay off for new equipment that are needed since Sri Lanka started military connections with Iran which in turn angered Israel to stop selling spare parts and ammunition.

Sri Lankan Official : 'We are not a colony and neither a bankrupt Third World country'
=============================================================

"Some think they can land up at our airport and expect a red carpet treatment. We are not a colony and neither a bankrupt Third World country. Our main donors are in Asia, not in Europe," the official added.

Bildt said he had been denied a visa and described the snub as "exceedingly strange behaviour." He was recalling the top Swedish diplomat to Colombo.

Arms Trade
=========
As David Miliband and his french counterpart are now scheduled to visit Colombo tomorrow it will be interesting to see how much emphasis they will pay to the IMF loan (the loan itself has had two different excuses so far from the borrower and the lender)

Re: IMF - UK's responsibility to rectify mistakes
===================================
Further to the historical mistake (if not purposely manipulated foreign and commonwealth policy) t Great Britain is *responsible* for forcing independence on Ceylon in 1948 as one administrative unit, a move made in 1833 to rule over three distinct kingdoms.

Then there is the question of UK's special envoy for the G20 Summit, Lord Malloch-Brown and his dealings in postponing Sri Lanka from being subjected to a 26 point human/environmental/ labour rights inspections -- pre conditons for GSP+ scheme whereby the only south asian beneficiary is exempt from trade tarrifs. Lord Malloch-Brown and the then leader of British industry Sir Stuart Rose (of M&S infame) took it upon themselves to guarantee the GSP+ scheme was 'on track'.

Then there is the R2P concept on international law


Not finally ... but in order stop and draw attention to the subject of the story... Gordon Brown himself unveiled plans to boost the 'world economy' apparently in recession by injecting a trillion US Dollars at the recent G20 Leader's summit.
So this is where the first batch of the $750 bn allocated to the IMF is coming out
-- arms for continuation of the Genocide in Sri Lanka!

Stop the genocide.
Give support to this worthy action.

Legal challenge to block IMF loan, charges UK's complicity in Genocide
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 April 2009, 13:35 GMT]

 http://tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=29205

infobass
e-mail: infobass23@gmail.com
Homepage: http://www.infobass.com