HEMP GROWER MAY SOON BE RELEASED FROM NICARAGUA JAIL

GUELPH, Ont. (CP) - A Canadian businessman jailed in Nicaragua since before
Christmas for growing hemp may soon be released, says one of his partners.
Paul Wylie may be freed within a few days, said Stan Ross, an associate in
Vancouver with Hemp-Agro International, which is based in Burlington, Ont.

The company was operating a large-scale hemp farm near Managua when
officials swooped down on the 57-hectare plantation on Dec. 23.

They destroyed the crop and charged Wylie, the only company official in
Nicaragua at the time.

"Its an absolute outrage," said Ross. "I cant believe this is all happening.
It was industrial hemp. Those facts will be proven."

Hemp-Agro, with offices in Burlington, Vancouver and Nicaragua, grows hemp
for uses such as clothing.

Ross said he expected a break in the case shortly, with Nicaraguan judges
indicating if company experts can prove it was industrial hemp they would
drop all charges.

"Everything is going to be, hopefully, resolved soon," Ross said. "Hes been
charged with a very serious offence and its not true."

"I will not be going to Nicaragua until this is cleared up," said Ross. "Its
total injustice."

Ross is threatening legal action over the destroyed crop.

Wylies mother, who lives in Guelph, declined comment on the arrest.

"Its been really upsetting her," a niece said Thursday.

"Something went askew," said his brother Provam Wylie, who also lives in
Guelph.

"I have no answers. I just have a whole lot of questions."

The other partners - including Nicaraguan Oscar Danilo Blandon who is
believed to be in the U.S. - were out of the country at the time of the
raid.

Company president Grant Sanders, 35, of Ancaster, Ont., and the other
Canadians - Ross, Don Malman, Jamie Dean, and Garry Wade - all of
Vancouver - face arrest if they set foot in the Central American country.

Sanders has said the charges are political and probably stemmed from his
association with Blandon, who is a controversial figure in Nicaragua, with a
record for cocaine trafficking in the United States.

Blandon was one of the founders of the Contra guerrilla movement, which
waged a eight-year civil war against the previous Sandinista government.