CONSPIRACY CHARGE AGAINST EMERY HEADS TO TOP COURT

VANCOUVER -- The federal government will be asking a British Columbia
Supreme Court judge today to remove a potential obstacle in its
attempt to extradite Marc Emery, the so-called Prince of Pot, and his
two co-defendants to the United States to stand trial on
marijuana-trafficking charges.

Mr. Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams are facing a possible
private charge under the Criminal Code of conspiracy to violate
foreign laws. A private information asking for the charge to be laid
was sworn in Provincial Court last August by Patrick Roberts,
chairman of the nationalist Bloc British Columbia party.

Criminal Code offences are normally within the jurisdiction of the
provincial Crown to prosecute. Federal prosecutors have jurisdiction
over a narrower range of offences, including violations of the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

The federal Justice Department is arguing that it has the right to
take control of the conspiracy charge because it is marijuana-related.

Don Skogstad, a lawyer representing Mr. Roberts, has responded with a
legal motion asking the court to prohibit the federal Crown from
becoming involved in the case. The B.C. Ministry of the
Attorney-General has indicated that it will not intervene in the
hearing today in Nelson to determine who has jurisdiction to
prosecute the conspiracy charge.

If the private prosecution is allowed to go ahead and the three
defendants are convicted, it is unlikely they could be extradited to
the United States. Any sentence imposed in Canada would likely be
much shorter than a marijuana-trafficking conviction in the United States.

Mr. Roberts said he is pursuing the private prosecution "because I
believe they are guilty. But I think Canadians, should be accountable
only to Canada, for their conduct on Canadian soil." He noted that
Mr. Emery's selling of marijuana seeds over the Internet is a
violation of Canadian law, yet he was never arrested until there was
a request by the U.S. government. Since his extradition proceeding
began, the RCMP charged a number of people in Montreal with selling
marijuana seeds on-line.

Mr. Roberts, 58, a pilot and MBA graduate, was convicted in 1988 of
marijuana smuggling. Similar charges were thrown out in 2004, because
of unreasonable delay by federal prosecutors.

In dismissing the charges, a B.C. Supreme Court judge noted that a
Justice Department prosecutor had "some involvement, directly or
indirectly," in advising U.S. authorities that Mr. Roberts was in
Holland during a trip to attend a university reunion in Ireland. Mr.
Roberts was arrested and spent more than four months in jail in the
Netherlands because of an extradition request by the United States,
which was later withdrawn.

"I have been in Marc Emery's position," Mr. Roberts said. "This is a
matter of sovereignty."

The federal government quashed a previous private charge laid by a
Vancouver businessman last year after Mr. Emery and his co-defendants
were arrested at the request of the U.S. government. The charge
alleged violations of drug laws rather than a breach of the
conspiracy provisions in the Criminal Code.

The Justice Department also attempted in January to have the private
prosecution of Mr. Roberts thrown out. Robert Prior, director of the
federal prosecution service in B.C., wrote the Provincial Court
registry in Nelson and directed it to "enter a stay of proceedings."

The registry declined to issue the stay, Mr. Skogstad said, until a
court determines if the province or the federal government has
jurisdiction over any conspiracy prosecution.

"Everything we are doing is within the Criminal Code," Mr. Skogstad
said. "This is not a matter of violating provisions of the CDSA."

Mr. Skogstad said he was informed by the Justice Department that it
wants the public excluded from the hearing today. A Justice
Department spokeswoman said it would not be making any comment.

Mr. Emery and his co-defendants are scheduled to make a court
appearance next month in Vancouver in B.C. Supreme Court to set a
date for their extradition hearing.