VANSTONE DENIES JEOPARDISING JUSTICE

The Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Amanda Vanstone,
yesterday dismissed claims she had jeopardised the case against seven
men accused of importing a record amount of cocaine by overseeing the
incineration of the drugs.

"I completely reject those allegations, they're ludicrous," she
said.

The 500 kilograms of cocaine, valued at $120million, were seized from
a yacht last month and destroyed in front of the media in Sydney last
week.

Lawyers acting for the seven men labelled the act a publicity stunt
and accused the minister of denying natural justice to their clients
because the drugs were burnt before they could be independently
analysed. But Senator Vanstone said the drugs were destroyed in
accordance with national guidelines. She said major seizures were
routinely destroyed before committal hearings and that samples of the
seizure were taken by police.

"The accused will have every opportunity to test every piece of
evidence put forward at the trial," she said.

The Australian Federal Police commissioner, Mr Mick Palmer, supported
the minister and said it was important drugs were destroyed at the
first available opportunity. "It is highly risky, of course, to hold
drugs of this nature. It's a huge amount of profit involved in them,"
he said.

The commissioner and the minister were speaking at the launch of the
70th Conference of Police Commissioners, which this year has the
theme: Crime @ the Speed of Thought.

The commissioners, from around Australasia, the Pacific and the
Netherlands, will spend a week exploring Internet crime and the ways
technology has helped traditional crimes such as harassment, fraud and
the trafficking of child pornography.

The sessions, which will be closed for security reasons, will include
a speech by the FBI's Mr Jim Burill.