Belgium - Trekt Uw Plant Counts On Being Acquitted

[Encod]

Dear friends,

On June 12, the case in appeal against the conviction of the first Belgian Cannabis Social
Club Trekt Uw Plant and 5 of its members because of possessing 1
cannabisplant per person has taken a strange direction.

The Prosecutors Office has requested the Court of Appeal to acquit us
because of the fact that too much time has passed since the date of the
facts (12 december 2006). According to the prosecutor we can only be
accused of growing cannabis for personal use, which is not considered a
crime but an offense, which can only be punished by socalled police
convictions (fines or community work) and because this offense has been
committed more than 1,5 years ago he requests to acquit us.

This seems to be a childish trick in order not to have to deal with the
principle matter: the Prosecutors Office itself had requested in January
2008 to postpone the case until June, possibly in order to be able to
request acquittance and in this way dismiss the case.

But in fact it means that the possession of 1 plant by adult citizens is
tolerated also by the highest echelons of the legal system..

On June 26th we will have the final sentence, but due to the fact that
the court of appeal has not even heard our defense lawyer (who made his
extensive preparation - referring to the legality principle included in
the European Convention on Human Rights - for nothing) it is quite sure
that we will be acquitted.

The next step is to find out what this means concretely for our club.

But today is a happy day )

best wishes

Joep / Philippe / Kris
http://www.trektuwplant.be

See more on http://www.encod.org/info/BE-IN-THE-...-TREKT-UW.html