cannabisnews.com: Family Fears for Jailed Hemp Grower! 





Family Fears for Jailed Hemp Grower! 
Posted by FoM on January 08, 1999 at 06:50:25 PT

Canadian Paul Wylie says his health is suffering because of conditions at the Nicaraguan prison he has been living in for more than two weeks. 
Horticulturist held in Nicaraguan prison!``He told me he got sick because of the unsanitary conditions,'' says Evon Gomez, the Nicaraguan woman who has been living with Wylie for the last year. ``He got through all the hurdles and hardships of living in Nicaragua. He had to learn the language and culture - to have this happen to him now, I just imagine how he feels.'' - - Grant Sanders President, Hemp Agro Wylie is not allowed out of his prison cell, which is small and has no bathroom facilities, and he doesn't receive special treatment because he's a foreigner. ``He's in the same situation as any other prisoner,'' says Gomez, 25. The Burlington man has been held since his arrest Dec. 23 on charges that the 100-hectare government-sanctioned hemp farm where he was the horticulturist was actually a massive marijuana operation. Nicaraguan officials may also consider extradition requests for six other Canadians who were involved in Hemp Agro, the company that owns the farm, says prosecutor Maria Alicia Duarte. But she told Reuters News Agency the attorney-general's office won't seek such an order until more evidence is gathered. Nicaraguan authorities allege the Canadians grew 400 million pounds of marijuana. The Canadians say they were growing industrial hemp, and claim the Nicaraguans are being influenced by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, which does not recognize a difference between hemp and marijuana, two strains of the same species, Cannabis sativa. A Nicaraguan judge ordered Wylie held without bail after deciding at a preliminary hearing there was enough evidence to proceed with charges. ``It's very important for us to get the word out about what has happened here,'' says Gomez, who's worried Wylie will be mistreated in prison if attention is taken off the Nicaraguan officials. ``He was pushed and kicked when he was taken,'' she says. ``They treated him roughly.'' Wylie, who was raised in Guelph and studied horticulture at the university there, has been involved in the hemp industry for the last 22 years, says nephew Grant Sanders, the president of Hemp Agro. ``He got through all the hurdles and hardships of living in Nicaragua. He had to learn the language and culture - to have this happen to him now, I just imagine how he feels,'' says Sanders who, like the others, was out of the country when the charges were laid. Wylie went to Nicaragua to oversee Hemp Agro's first hemp project. The two-year-old firm has offices in Vancouver and Managua, and Sanders runs the company out of the Burlington office of his other company, which imports crocodile and ostrich hand bags. Sanders, who lives in Burlington with his wife and 6-month-old daughter, says Hemp Agro chose Nicaragua for its project because the climate allows for two crops a year and the government offers tax incentives to foreign businessmen. The company was already harvesting its first crop and had buyers lined up when Wylie was arrested Dec. 23 and the crop burned, says Sanders. The hemp oil, extracted from the seeds and used in cosmetics, dyes and inks, was to be the company's main focus. The oil would have been worth $4 million (U.S.), says Sanders, who still doesn't know whether the seeds were warehoused or destroyed. Along with the financial loss, Sanders says company workers have been targeted personally. A U.S. attorney who gave expert testimony at the Nicaraguan hearing says the involvement of Oscar Danilo Blandón in the company may be one reason the Nicaraguans believe the Canadians are involved in drugs. Don Wirtshafter says Blandón financed Nicaraguan Contra rebels in the 1980s by importing cocaine into America, he said. The Canadians are becoming increasingly nervous about the possibility of their own extradition. The RCMP have already started background checks, Sanders says. ``We would hope the Canadian government would see our side of the story and not extradite us to a country which sees no side of the story but has already made up its mind,'' he said. Canadian Ambassador Denis Thibault has spoken with Nicaraguan officials and will continue meeting with them for several days, says Foreign Affairs spokesperson Sophie Legendre. The discussions are not about the charges but ``to ensure that (Wylie's) rights within the country are respected.'' 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 08, 1999 at 10:41:43 PT
I hope not!
I bet you're right about us being involved. I thought the same thing. We'll see I'm sure! I sure hope not though but....
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Comment #1 posted by UaN on January 08, 1999 at 08:15:24 PT
Sounds like US involvement
I bet the United States was involved in this one for sure. This government is so rotten, it stinks! We are getting to be as bad as these third world countries......I almost hate being apart of a government like this, but where in the hell do you go to get away from this kind of carrying on.....
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