Press release: Hemp farmer arrested under Swiss terror legislation

Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:

After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.

Legalise Cannabis Alliance

Wednesday 14 Nov 2007

---
The Legalise Cannabis Alliance has been informed that André Fürst, a
Swiss hemp farmer after being sentenced to 29 months imprisonment for
growing hemp, was subsequently arrested under Swiss terror legislation
and spent 50 days in solitary confinement.

Ingo Wagenknecht, who is a spokesperson for the LCA, said “The Swiss
Authorities are using draconian legislation on André Fürst in order to
make an example of him.

Switzerland is trying to outlaw the Hemp plant by introducing a law in
parliament that outlaws a plant and criminalising people who
self-medicate and grow their own. At the same time, encouraging the
pharmaceutical industry to exploit legal THC, CBD and other cannabinols,
is hypocracy to the first degree."

André Fürst is not just a hemp farmer, he is involved in the
education of young people about hemp and its vast applications and he is
part of an initiative to make the consumption of hemp and the growing of
it legal. So far they have gathered over the 100.000 signatures required
to trigger the Swiss referendum laws. It is his foresight and
agricultural advances which have landed him in prison. His business was
shut down and his fields raided by masked men and the solitary
confinement order for this man is highly unusual, not even the worst
dealers are treated like this.

In June 2007, André was elected member of the Steering Committee of the
European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD), a
platform of 150 organisations from 26 European countries involved in
political lobby and activism to end the war on drugs. In the community
of drug policy experts he is known for his commitment to promoting drug
policies that effectively minimise harm to consumers and their surroundings.

A spokesperson for ENCOD said: "André Fürst has become another prisoner
of the war against plants".... "the support from the public is
massive”...."Swiss justice has sown a wind that will harvest a storm."

ENCOD Contact details:
Joep Oomen
Tel. + 32 (0)3 293 0886
Mob. + 32 (0)495 122644
E-mail: joep@encod.org
www.encod.org

Legalise Cannabis Alliance
PO BOX 2883
STOKE ON TRENT
S74 9EE
http://www.lca-uk.org
publicrelation@lca-uk.org
07984 255015

# # #

Notes for the editor:

On 6 July 2007 the Swiss Federal Court of Appeal (Kassationshof)
confirmed the sentence of 29 months imprisonment against André Fürst,
owner of the company Chanvre-Info and member of the Steering Committee
of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD).

André Fürst was condemned for the cultivation of hemp and the
manufacturing of hemp products to be used as a food supplement, in body
and health care or as a substitute to plastic. Chanvre-Info is one of
the most respected European companies engaged with the promotion of the
hemp plant, its culture and its values for human kind. It is recognised
for its high level professionalism and has never made any secret about
its activities.

Unfortunately, it seems that André’s real crime has been the open and
transparent way in which he has carried out his activities. Chanvre-Info
has designed and erected exhibitions about hemp in various official
conferences including in the European Parliament, hosted a multilingual
website with up-to-date information about the qualities and uses of hemp
and supported political activism against its prohibition.

Various links to background of the case can be found here.
http://www.encod.org/info/SWISS-HEMP-FARMER-NEW-PRISONER-IN.html

After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.



This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.

Feel free to link to this page!