Renee Boje is fighting a fast track extradition order from
Canada
to the
US
. The
US
federal authorities want to imprison her for a 10 year mandatory minimum to life sentence in a federal prison for medical marijuana charges stemming from a bust in
California
, where medical marijuana is legal.
The Canadian Minister of Justice, Irwin Cotler, ordered Renee Boje surrendered to the
US
authorities on June 17, 2005. Renee surrendered herself into custody on that date and was released on bail pending an appeal that she and her lawyer entered to the Canadian Court of Appeals. They are still waiting to hear whether or not the appeal will be accepted.
In order to ensure Renee Boje's freedom in Canada, she and her lawyer will have to convince the Canadian Court of Appeals that to surrender her to the US authorities to serve a lengthy prison sentence in a violent and inhumane US prison would shock the conscience of Canadian citizens.
Amnesty International, the UN and Human Rights Watch have all condemned womens prisons in the
US
due to the extreme violence & inhumane conditions that women are enduring in American prisons today. More information can be found in the links section of this site under prison issues.
Renee Boje and her lawyer only have 2 years to fight for Renee's freedom since the
US
has requested her extradition case be fast tracked through the Canadian Courts.
There are a few ways that the public can help:
1. Please write to the Minister of Justice, Irwin Cotler, to ask him to
reverse his decision to surrender Renee Boje to the US authorities.
Please send your letter to Renee Boje so that she can copy it and submit it to the Court of Appeals & then forward your letter to the Minister for you:
Renee Boje
307 W Hastings St
Vancouver
,
BC
,
V6B 1H6
Email the Minister of Justice at Cotler.I@parl.gc.ca and cc your email to Renee at rboje@hotmail.com
2. Please write to all media outlets that you can to help Renee's case to
get as much public attention as possible which will help to show that she
has the support of the public to remain in Canada with her family.
3. Renee owes her lawyers $30,000.00 in legal fees and if her case goes to
the Supreme Court of Canada it will cost $250,000.00 to cover the legal
costs as well as the costs of flying expert witnesses out to testify on her
behalf. You may donate to her lawyer by sending a check or money order made
out to John Conroy and mail it to:
John Conroy
Barristers and Solicitors
2459 Pauline Street
Abbotsford, British Columbia V2S 3S1
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Ex-US Drug Enforcement Agent, Mike Levine, spoke out about Renee Boje's
case in an article which appeared in "Heads Magazine", Vol 4, Issue 1, and
was written by Thoman Mann. (more)
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