Bert Tatham Released by
Dubai in Drug Case
18 December, 2007
OTTAWA (AP) — A Canadian U.N. official who advised the Afghan government
on eradicating opium poppy crops was granted amnesty by Dubai Monday, six
months after being sentenced to four years in prison on a drug smuggling
conviction.
Bert Tatham, 35, was arrested April 23 during a one-hour stopover at the
Dubai International Airport, after being caught with a half a gram of
hashish, and two poppy bulbs. He pleaded innocent.
Tatham's attorney, Saeed Al-Gailani, argued at the arraignment in June
that his client inadvertently carried a small amount of drugs because part
of his job was to collect "tons of drugs every day" in Afghanistan.
"His trousers must have mistakenly picked up the tiny quantity of
hashish," al-Gailani said.
As for the poppy bulbs, al-Gailani said Tatham was taking them to Canada
"for experiments and education."
The judge said in June that Tatham must serve his full sentence and then
be deported from this Gulf country, known for its "zero tolerance" policy
on narcotics.
But Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, pardoned
377 inmates of Dubai prisons this week, including Tatham, on the eve of
Eid al-Adha, an important Islamic holiday.
It is common for rulers of the Gulf countries to declare amnesties during
Islamic festivals.
"We welcome this act of goodwill by the Government of Dubai. Canada highly
values its friendship with the U.A.E.," said Canada's Foreign Minister
Maxime Bernier.
Tatham was arrested en route to Canada from the Afghan city of Kandahar,
where he worked as a consultant for the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime and as an adviser to the Afghan government's poppy elimination
program.
The program aims to convince Afghan farmers to stop growing poppies, which
are used for production of opium and then heroin.
In an interview with his mother, Louise
Tatham told the CBC that Burt would be back in Toronto later today. |
