Petition Tag - justice minister

UK Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has declined to apologise after he suggest that some rapes were less serious than others, and showed almost total ignorance of UK law on 'Date Rape' in a BBC interview viewed here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13436429

During the live BBC Broadcast on Radio 5 (Wednesday 18th May), Mr Clarke gave in an interview about proposals under consultation to halve jail terms for people who plead guilty early, including rapists.

He showed complete ignorance of the legal definition of 'rape', which is completely unacceptable in a Government Minister in charge of legislation and directing sentencing policies.

Asked if he had been ordered to apologise following the row, Mr Clarke said he had not - and he had not apologised: "I apologise if an impression has been given which is not my view and which I don't think I stated."

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On September 28th, 2009, Marc Scott Emery surrendered himself to Canadian authorities and is currently awaiting extradition to the United States of America for sentencing on politically-motivated charges of "Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana", "Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana Seeds" and "Conspiracy to Engage in Money Laundering".

To qualify for extradition under the Extradition Act, the offence involved must meet a specific threshold of having resulted in a jail sentence of two years or more had it taken place in Canada.

Furthermore, as long as the person’s political "offence" in the requesting country was non-violent, Canada will refuse to surrender the individual to the requesting state.

For a synopsis of the Canadian Extradition act, please see:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/crime/extradition.html

Marc Scott Emery is a political prisoner being sought for his role in helping to finance marijuana activist groups in Canada and abroad calling for decriminalization and an end to marijuana prohibition.

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