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Canada: No jail time for Kurdish dealer
4.2.2006
By DEAN PRITCHARD, COURT REPORTER
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A Kurdish refugee
arrested in a "dial-a-dealer" sting operation earned
harsh words from a judge who also questioned the
appropriateness of conditional sentences for drug
charges.
"In many Canadian communities, drugs have become a
plague," Judge Charles Rubin told 31-year-old Nazim
Mohamad Amin.
"At some point authorities are going to have to put
a stop to it, and if it means not having conditional
sentences so we can send people directly to jail
that is what will happen."
Rubin agreed to impose a conditional sentence of two
years less a day, following a joint recommendation
by Crown attorney Erin Magas and defence lawyer Jay
Prober.
Rubin's stern lecture suggested he agreed to the
sentence grudgingly.
"Before conditional sentences were legislated nobody
who trafficked in cocaine walked out of a courtroom
the same day they were sentenced. (The courts) may
have to take that view again because we certainly
haven't stopped people like yourself getting
involved simply because there is money to be made."
Amin was arrested Nov. 17, 2004, after he sold four
rocks of crack cocaine to undercover cops.
Prober said Amin's parents, brother and sister were
all killed in Saddam Hussein's war on Kurdistan.
Amin arrived in Canada in 1999 as a recognized
refugee.
Amin's drug dealing was "out-of-character behaviour
in a foolish attempt to make money," Prober said,
adding Amin has no prior criminal record in Canada
or Kurdistan.
SCOLDED BY JUDGE
Rubin scolded Amin for "abusing" the country that
has given him an opportunity for a new life.
"No matter what country you live in, there is a
price for everything, including freedom," Rubin
said.
Amin said he made one mistake.
"Yes, but sometimes mistakes leave you dead," Rubin
said. "You think if this happened in Iraq they would
be gentle with you? You wouldn't have made a
courtroom, you would have made a wall with some
holes in it after they were through with you. They
would have shot you not only for that but because
you were a Kurd."
As part of his sentence, Amin must observe an
absolute curfew except for work and complete 125
hours community service work.
www.winnipegsun.com
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