US Embassy not obligated to arrested cannabis possessor

Written by Cherelle Jackson
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
*U.S Embassy Charge’d Affairs H.E George Colvin.* A tourist from the United States of America arrested last week for possession of cannabis will receive no special legal treatment from the local U.S Embassy according to Charge’d Affairs H.E George Colvin. He was asked for a comment regarding the case, however Colvin said: “I of course could not comment on the specifics of any case. Provisions of the U.S. Privacy Act would require permission from an American citizen before I could do so.” According to the Charge’d Affairs Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, an arresting country is obliged to notify the relevant diplomatic establishment of the arrest of a foreign person. “That person’s consular representative is also supposed to be granted prompt access to the detained person to verify the conditions in which he or she is being held, to ensure that they are not being discriminated against because of their nationality, and related concerns,” he said. Colvin added that the United States Government is also able to offer certain limited forms of assistance (such as vitamin supplements) to American citizens who are detained. “This sort of thing is what’s usually considered consular protection,” Colvin said. Asked as to the involvement of the Embassy in the case, Colvin said they do not provide legal assistance to American detainees, nor can it recommend any specific attorney. However Colvin says the Embassy maintains a list of local Attorneys that they can provide to the detainees upon contact. He did however specifically state that the US Government strongly advice citizens who travel abroad to act according to local laws. “The USG makes quite clear to American travelers that they are subject to the laws of the countries they visit, and that they should take this fact into consideration in planning their travel,” Colvin said.“There is no question of “extraterritoriality” for American travellers,” he said. Meanwhile the American traveler involved has pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court. on Monday for one count of possession of marijuana. The middle aged man was caught coming into Samoa from California, United States of America on the 6th of February this year with 10 cigarettes containing Marijuana. Drug sniffing dogs given to Samoa by the Governments of New Zealand and Samoa were responsible for the discovery of the smuggled narcotics. Assistant Police Commissioner and Spokesman, Papali’i Li’o Masepau says because of these dogs there has been an increase in the number of people arrested at Samoa’s borders for possession of narcotics such as Marijuana. He also said narcotics are a big concern to the Samoan Police; however, they have tired of having to continuously work on cases involving drugs, therefore are taking the matter seriously. “It is occurring every week, it is getting very monotonous for the Police,” he said. Papalii also stated that the work the Police Officers are doing in becoming repetitious. The American tourist will appear in court again for sentencing on the 3rd of March. Comments (2) Subscribe to this comment's feed Treat him with equality, like you would any other Samoan citizen written by Tulifua Alofipo, February 22, 2008 Why is this front page news? Samoans get caught with marijuana all the time. Why make this such a big issue? Just give the guy a fair trial and let him leave? Did you ask why he had the marijuana? In Oakland CA it is legal to have marijuana for medicinal purposes; I am not saying this is why he had them, but it sure makes sense to give this guy some fair treatment and not single him out because he is an American. Innocent until proven guilty! It appears like the Samoan authorities just want to blow this out of proportion because he is from the US and this is a way for them to get some publicity....soia laia....ua lava.... A fair trail, I don't thing so. written by joseph, February 22, 2008 Welcome to Samoa. O soo se atunuu lava, e iai lava ona tulafono aemaise lava tagata tafafao mai. E tusa lava pe fai mai o oe o le Peresitene of America e leai lava se mea e alo mai ai ma le tulafono. E tusa foi pe fai mai e faataga I Kalefonia fualaau faasaina, e tatau lava i lea tagata ona mulimuli i ala o le tulafono. "E sili le puipuiia nai lo le togafitia". Fai le mea sao, tonu ma le faamaoni. Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 20 February 2008 )

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