Re: Truly Wierd

["Ken Hanly" <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here is a more recent article on the same prosecution. There has been a long
history of attempts  of the US to apply their trading with the enemy ban to
Canadian firms going as far back as trade wtih Communist China while the
Chinese Communists were still bad guys but Canada had diplomatic relatiions
with China

Cheers, Ken Hanly

POSTED AT 2:38 AM EST    Friday, April 5


Embargo verdict puzzles Canadian







By JOHN IBBITSON
>From Friday's Globe and Mail


Philadelphia - James Sabzali, who calls himself Jim, spent Thursday in his
comfortable suburban Philadelphia home with an electronic bracelet around
his ankle, something his wife finds particularly hateful.

"It's so dehumanizing. You're on a leash. Big Brother really is watching,"
Sharon Sabzali said in an interview.

Mr. Sabzali, 42, is trying to come to terms with the realization that he may
be going to jail for something he thought was perfectly legal: selling
water-purification chemicals to Cuba. As a Canadian working in Canada, he
believed he was not subject to the U.S. embargo on trade with the Communist
island.

A Philadelphia jury on Wednesday convicted Mr. Sabzali and two senior
executives of Bro-Tech Corp. of trading with the enemy and conspiracy,
making Mr. Sabzali the first Canadian to be convicted under the laws
enforcing the U.S. government's 42-year-old embargo against Cuba.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 28. The prosecution is
recommending a jail term of at least three years. Meanwhile, Mr. Sabzali is
restricted to the Philadelphia area, the ankle bracelet allowing police to
track his movements.

"It's just so difficult to believe this could be happening," he said. "The
whole situation is beyond explanation."

While a U.S. jury has pronounced Mr. Sabzali and Bro-Tech guilty, the
implications of that decision for Canadian companies that trade with Cuba
and have ties to the United States remain unclear. Canadian officials
puzzled Thursday over the verdicts of guilty and not guilty the jury
delivered on the 77 charges brought before them.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said government lawyers are still
examining the outcome of the case. "He's a Canadian citizen, I understand,
and a resident of the United States, so clearly the United States courts
have jurisdiction," Mr. Graham said. "But apart from that I cannot comment
until I've been briefed."

In Ottawa, a Foreign Affairs Department spokeswoman said the government has
been in contact with Mr. Sabzali "and will continue to monitor developments
closely."

"The situation is complex because he resides in the U.S., and because he was
indicted for acts committed in the U.S. as well as Canada," Marie-Christine
Lilkoff added.

What is clear is that a Canadian businessman who was so good at his job that
he got promoted to the head office in the United States is now a convicted
felon, much to his bewilderment.

"It's just overwhelming," he said, his voice shaking.

Mr. Sabzali was born in Trinidad and immigrated to Canada as a toddler with
his parents, who were teachers. He grew up in the industrial Ontario town of
St. Catharines, and met his wife when they were both students at Hamilton's
McMaster University, where he studied for a degree in science.

In 1980 he had his first, fleeting moment in the public spotlight when he
ran for the Rhinoceros Party in the federal election. "Chemistry is
relatively dry," he observed, so to lighten life, he did gigs as a stand-up
comic. "It was simply a neat experience, to go to these meetings and tell
jokes."

After graduation, the married couple moved to Sarnia, where Mr. Sabzali got
his feet wet in the chemical-sales business. They then moved back to the
Hamilton area, and in 1990 he signed a freelance contract to represent
Bro-Tech through its Canadian subsidiary, Purolite Canada.

He found a ready market in Cuba for the company's ion-exchange resins, which
filter and purify liquids (mostly water, but it works for everything from
blood to sugar). He estimates he visited Cuba about two dozen times, forming
an attachment with a "hard-working, well-educated, sincere" people.

In 1995, Bro-Tech offered him the job of marketing director for the firm,
and in 1996 the Sabzalis and their two young children moved to a pleasant
neighbourhood outside Philadelphia. Today they live in a spacious
two-storey, grey-stoned home in the affluent Winwood suburb.

Almost as soon as they arrived, Mr. Sabzali heard that U.S. Customs
officials were asking about the shipments to Cuba. He said he was not
concerned because, even if there was a problem, "I figured it wasn't going
to affect me. I'm a Canadian."

But when Mr. Sabzali moved to the United States, "he clearly subjected
himself to U.S. jurisdiction," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Poluka said
Thursday in an interview.

In 2000, Mr. Sabzali and the company's senior executives were charged, but
it took until last month for the case to go to trial. The jury deliberated
17 hours before reaching its verdict.

Thursday, the Sabzali family tried to go about their normal business. James
Jr., who celebrated his 13th birthday on Wednesday, and 14-year-old Sarah
went to school; Mr. Sabzali stayed at home. He and and his wife are trying
to come to grips with the reality that he could soon be gone from the family
for years.

"We can't plan anything at this point," Mrs. Sabzali said. "We have no idea
where to begin."

Mrs. Sabzali had some advice, though, for Canadian executives who trade with
Cuba and are thinking of moving to the United States: "Don't. It's just not
worth it."

Meanwhile, one of Mr. Sabzali's business partners in Canada worries that he
could be the next target for U.S. prosecution for trading with Cuba.

Claude Gauthier, an Ontario resident and long-time friend of Mr. Sabzali,
said in an interview that although charges have not been laid against him,
he remains what is, in the U.S. justice system, called an unindicted
co-conspirator. Part of the evidence in the Philadelphia trial was that Mr.
Sabzali approved Mr. Gauthier's travel expenses to Cuba from Canada.

"It's more politics than anything, it's unbelievable," Mr. Gauthier said
Thursday. Canada has cautioned the U.S. government against laying charges.
Still, officials in Ottawa, Mr. Gauthier's lawyers and his wife all advise
him against travelling south of the border



----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Perelman" <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 8:18 PM
>Subject: [PEN-L:24670] Truly Wierd