B.C. DRUG FOE FACES HASHISH CHARGES IN DUBAI

UNITED NATIONS -- A Dubai court will rule Tuesday on drug charges
against a Vancouver man who was returning to Canada after his latest
tour in Afghanistan helping farmers find alternatives to poppy
cultivation.

Leading figures including Foreign Affairs Secretary of State Helena
Guergis have praised anti-narcotics official Bert Tatham for his work,
and Canadian officials and others say privately he is a victim of
circumstance.

Prosecutors accuse Tatham, 35, of carrying 0.6 grams of hashish -- an
almost trace amount that his lawyers said had inadvertently become
attached to his clothing because of the nature of his work.

Dubai authorities also found Tatham in possession of two two-year-old
dried poppy flowers, which have no utility to make opium or heroin,
and said tests showed he had traces of narcotics in his blood.

Dubai is a common transit hub for people travelling between North
America and Afghanistan, but is also notorious among the seven United
Arab Emirates for having zero tolerance towards drug possession.

Canada has good relations with the Dubai government, and Tatham's
family said they agree with advice they've received privately from
Canadian officials, among others, to remain patient while the court
process plays out.

"Out of respect for the judicial system in Dubai, we have tried not to
interfere, and provided all the documentation and letters of reference
that they've asked for," Chuck Tatham, Bert's brother, said from Toronto.

"We're waiting until they work through it, and hoping they will come
to the right decision, which is that he was not intentionally doing
something wrong."

But with Tatham facing a typical sentence of at least four years in
prison if convicted on counts of possession of narcotic substances,
and possession in order to distribute them, the family is preparing to
launch a campaign for his release if he is convicted.

"I'm on the computer all day, and we're working like crazy for him,"
said Tatham's mother, Louise, from his parent's home in Collingwood,
Ont., just north of Toronto.

"We have to respect their laws, [but] if he is convicted we'll then
start with publicity because we have to get him out."

Tatham, originally trained as satellite photo specialist, had spent
several years in Afghanistan, working first for the United Nations
Office of Drugs and Crime, more recently for a contractor with the
U.S. State Department.

He was returning to his home in Vancouver late April to join his
girlfriend, Sarah, of Victoria.

Arrested as he tried to pass through Dubai, he remains in detention in
the emirate.

"He's been allowed some calls to us, and we have a family friend in
Dubai who has visited him," said Chuck, 39.

Canadian consular officials have also been in contact with Tatham,
delivering him reading materials, and helping him find a lawyer.

The UN and Afghan officials have submitted letters of praise.

"Mr. Tatham is a highly respected poppy eradication expert, and this
is truly a situation of wrong place, wrong time," said one Canadian
official closely involved in the file, but who asked not to be
identified because of the sensitivity of commenting on an ongoing
court proceeding.

"They say his blood shows traces of narcotic. Well of course it did.
He was involved in poppy eradication and burning tons of it every day."

Tatham's lawyer, Saeed Al Gailani, said as much in court this week.

He also said Tatham had been taking the dried poppy flowers to Canada
"for experiments," while Chuck speculated his brother planned to use
them as props in lectures he'd been invited to give. Chuck expressed
no surprise, meanwhile, that hashish traces ended up attached to his
brother's clothes.

"He laundered his clothes and was fastidious, but the stuff is
everywhere," he said. "People would give him some after meetings, and
to avoid being discourteous, he would accept it, and dispose of it
later.

"But he was not a user. He has observed the evils of drugs -- and he
has spoken to me a number of times about the devastation they have
caused in the region."