FC: Scientology online critic flees to Canada, seeks asylum

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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Background:
http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=henson
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From: xenu () blazenet net
Date: 16 May 2001 22:58:41 -0000
Subject: Henson seeks political asylum in Canada

Today James Harr appeared for Keith Henson in Riverside Superior
Court in Hemet California.  It was a confused hearing after Judge
Wallerstein notice that Henson was not present.  The judge at first issued
a bench warrant with a $25,000 bail and then change it to a no-bail bench
warrant for Henson, who is seeking political asylum in Canada.

He did not rule on the motion to issue a judgment notwithstanding the
verdict (http://freehenson.tripod.com/draf-jnov.txt) and after he said he
would impose sentence  reversed himself and did not rule on a sentence.
A probation officer made confused statements about the United States
State Department getting involved. The prosecution recommended 200 days
in jail and 5 years formal probation, with the defense making no 
recommendation.
Defense counsel was not permitted to withdraw.

No further court dates were set.


You can contact Keith Henson c/o Gregg Hagglund
Telephone: 905-844-6216
2237 Mund's Ave
Oakville, ON  L6H 3M9
Canada

Henson and his Canadian counsel will issue a statement. within a few days.

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Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 01:26:21 +0200
From: Zenon Panoussis <oracle () xs4all nl>
To: xenu () blazenet net
Subject: Re: Henson seeks political asylum in Canada

xenu () blazenet net skrev:
>
> Today James Harr appeared for Keith Henson in Riverside Superior
> Court in Hemet California.  It was a confused hearing after Judge
> Wallerstein notice that Henson was not present.  The judge at first issued
> a bench warrant with a $25,000 bail and then change it to a no-bail bench
> warrant for Henson, who is seeking political asylum in Canada.

It's not gonna work. Requesting asylum is *the* way to make
his own presence in Canada difficult for the Canadian state,
and to let politics take the upper hand. Canada might be a
kind country with a kind government, but not so kind as to
jeopardise its relations with the US for Keith's sake by
declaring the US a country that does not respect human rights,
which is exactly what a country does when it grants asylum to
the citizen of another country. The times of the Vietnam
draft-dodger refugees are over and even then Canada was
bound more by its own (pre-existing) laws than by its actual
good will.

What's wrong with just a plain ordinary residence permit
application, like "I like your country and I want to live
here"? What's wrong with a business setup? Employment?
What's wrong with any of all those other residence permit
possibilities, besides asylum?

Besides, when an asylum application is turned down, the
refugee is deported to his own country; in Keith's case
to the US and straight to jail. When an ordinary application
for residence is turned down, the applicant is not deported
at all, but is simply requested to leave the country and
is free to go anywhere he chooses.

Z


--
oracle@everywhere: The ephemeral source of the eternal truth...


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