COP DRUG PROBE EYES EXTENSION

Court Wants Evidence Sealed For 6 Months

Ontario prosecutors overseeing a probe into alleged corruption in the
Toronto Police drug squad want to keep now-secret evidence under wraps for
a further six months.

That could mean the massive internal affairs task force could continue well
into the summer.

The secret evidence -- contained in a Toronto Police internal affairs
affidavit given to the Ontario Court of Appeal in July 2001 -- outlines why
convicted drug dealer Simon Yeung was freed 18 months into a 45-month sentence.

Neither Yeung nor his lawyer, Greg Lafontaine, has seen the sealed
evidence, which saw the appeal court overturn Yeung's October 1999 guilty
plea to drug trafficking.

Nor have they seen sealed affidavits sworn by RCMP Chief Supt. John Neily
to get extensions on the appeal court order.

Police Fink Fund

Neily heads a 25-member internal affairs task force probing allegations of
corruption in the central field command drug squad.

Initially, the appeal court ruled it would be "contrary to the public
interest" to make the Yeung affidavits public and compromise a police
investigation, but it also voiced concern that "the public knows as soon as
possible the basis upon which the Yeung appeal was allowed."

But the Globe and Mail and CBC have mounted legal challenges to get access
to the initial Yeung affidavit and those tendered by Neily in subsequent
extensions.

More Information

On Dec. 12, lawyers for the two media outlets argued that most of what is
contained in the sealed affidavits was contained in Yeung's legal suit. The
court directed James K. Stewart, a prosecutor with Ontario's Crown Law
Office, to give it more information.

The latest seal was supposed to expire yesterday midnight. But Stewart
asked last Thursday that the sealing order be extended and supplied copies
of Yeung's civil suit.

Stewart argued that while the Yeung suit described "the nature of the
police misconduct" in "general terms," there was no overlap with the sealed
evidence.

The appeal court has scheduled a hearing for Friday morning and has further
sealed the affidavits until then.