BLOC POT LEADER COMPLAINS OF POLICE STING

Marijuana Bust; Party Infiltrated, Defence Lawyer Wants Evidence Thrown Out

The leader of the Bloc Pot told a Quebec Court hearing yesterday that
undercover Montreal police officers secretly joined the pro-marijuana
political party to find evidence against users of the illegal drug.

"The cops infiltrated our party to catch people and scare others," Hugo
St-Onge testified before Judge Andre Perreault.

St-Onge was the first witness called in a pre-trial motion hearing in the
case of party founder Marc-Boris St-Maurice, who was charged with marijuana
possession after being arrested at Bloc Pot headquarters one year ago.

A one-year membership cost $5, St-Onge explained, and anyone could join for
one day by making a donation of their choice.

At the time of St-Maurice's arrest, the party office included the Cafe
Marijane.

Police officer Victor Melo recalled on the stand yesterday how he and a
partner became members for a day, but that he thought it was a sort of
commercial co-operative rather than a political party. "I was there
assisting an investigation into pot possession and use," Melo said.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Mario Longpre, Melo described
watching St-Maurice - whom he recognized from media reports - take out a
bag of marijuana, roll a joint, light it, then go into the nearby washroom.

Melo said other police officers arrived within seconds and arrested St-Maurice.

Defence lawyer Julius Grey, a constitutional-law expert, is fighting to
have the evidence collected by those undercover cops excluded from the trial.

"It's impeding someone's rights when police join a political party to get
evidence,"

St-Maurice said during a break in the proceedings.

"It has to be a severe crime like murder to justify such action, but not
possession of pot when there are discussions of legalizing it," he added.
"It's a fundamental right and democratic principle to be free of frivolous
prosecution."

St-Maurice is also the founder and former leader of the federal Marijuana
Party, but he recently joined the federal Liberals.

Arguments are to continue today in the court case.