More On James Sabzali And Canadian Sovereignty

[snip]...news of the 76 charges filed against Sabzali caused what one Philadelphia newspaper called "a storm of protest" in Canada, long-tired of having its sovereignty violated by its colossal southern neighbor. Canadian editorialists called the charges "outrageous" and demanded their government oppose them, and Canadians citizens poured out letters of support for Sabzali; shortly thereafter Ottawa sent off first one and then another diplomatic protest to Washington.

Behind the outcry in Canada lay a growing international rejection of the U.S. blockade, a rejection not about to quietly abide Washington imposing its anti-Cuba laws inside other countries. And so as news of the case spread, so did worldwide support for Sabzali; the Scottish Parliament passed a protest resolution, and tens of thousands of Cubans demonstrated their backing, while Cuba solidarity activists in the United States unleashed a cascade of electronic publicity.

Rising opposition and the glare of international publicity increasingly revealed that, once again, the U.S. rulers had miscalculated their ability to strangle Cuba. The plan to use Sabzali to establish U.S. law applied outside its borders was in jeopardy...

[snip]...Sabzali's single guilty plea was for a 1994 transaction carried out while he was an independent businessman living in Canada. This establishes, said the U.S. prosecutor Joseph Poluka in an interview, that "you're not allowed to violate the laws of this country just because you live outside it."

Sabzali disputes the simplicity of that judgment: "I was convicted not for what I did, but for what I didn't do. I was supposed to inform the U.S. authorities that some of its citizens were violating U.S. law [by trading with Cuba]. What I pled guilty to was knowing that something was happening that was against U.S. law (not against Canadian law or any other law in the world) and not alerting the U.S. authorities that this was happening. But conducting business with Cuba from Canada remains perfectly legal."

In any case, according to Pamela Martin, a consultant for U.S. companies seeking business with Cuba, "the incredible size and length of this case Ðand the eight million dollars it cost the defendants' does have a certain chilling effect on people thinking about trading with Cuba here."...

Full article: Stubborn resistance and world support ends eight-year, eight million dollar ordeal [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on April 12, 2005]