A Canadian anti-narcotics official facing drug charges in Dubai fears he may be jailed for up to four years because of poor translating, according to Canadian media.
In a letter addressed "to whom it may concern" and printed in the Ottawa Citizen, Bert Tatham, 35, alleges that his testimony was not translated properly at his trial.
And he now fears he will be wrongly convicted for drug possession and drug-trafficking.
"I was not confident that those who took down my answers were fluent English speakers," he writes. "In fact, despite my protests, I suspect that virtually the opposite of what I told them was recorded as my statement."
The letter also describes a possible misunderstanding he believes occurred during an interrogation at the Dubai airport.
"For example, my telling them about being exposed to drugs in my work ... became, `I used drugs in Afghanistan,'" he writes.
"My lack of any knowledge of having hashish ... became, `I forgot I put it in my pocket,'" he writes.
Tatham was arrested at the Dubai airport on April 23 during a stopover from Afghanistan to Canada when customs officials found two poppy flowers in his luggage.
After a more thorough search, authorities reportedly found 0.6 grams of hashish in his clothes and traces of drugs in his urine.
Tatham insists in his letter that he handled drugs regularly in Afghanistan as part of his role as a counter-narcotics official, working alongside, but not connected to, 2,500 Canadian troops in southern Kandahar province.
"Drugs was a major occupational hazard," he writes.
"I handled hashish and other substances regularly in Afghanistan as part of my role as a counter-narcotics official," he said in the letter.
He also suggests he may have unknowingly ingested narcotics in local foods or inhaled "fumes" while burning seized drugs.
Rodney Moore, a spokesman for Canada's Foreign Affairs Department, said Canadian officials have been in contact with Tatham and his family.
They would not comment on his case, citing Canadian privacy laws.
The Toronto-based daily National Post said Tatham had worked several years in Afghanistan for the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, but more recently became a contractor with the US State Department.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also