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Vasey slams RHA for
Page 8
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• by Dominic Perry One of the founders of the Blue Ribbon campaign to free jailed British truckers abroad has accused the Road Haulage Association of hijacking the campaign for its own publicity.
Emma Vasey, who set up the campaign initially to seek the release of her husband John, is incensed by an article appearing in the latest edition of the RHA's member newsletter 'Roadway'.
She claims that in the article, the association makes no mention of the campaign's origins and overstates its own importance in it. However, what has particularly angered Vasey is the absence of any mention of her husband, currently languishing in a French jail awaiting trial, combined with the fact the RE-IA refused to help her when he was first arrested.
Vasey claims that initial phone calls to the RE-IA's international department were met with a blank refusal to help "because John's case involved drugs".
The Roadway article claims that the RHA attended the launch of the campaign where it was "singled out for praise for its support". Although RHA chief executive Roger King did attend an event publicising a widening of the campaign organised by Fair Trials Abroad, it had actually been launched several weeks earlier at Truckfest (CM8-14 May).
Additionally Vasey says that King was subjected to a barrage of difficult questions at the event regarding the RHA's handling of her husband's case, rather than being "singled out for praise", Vasey blasts: "It's absolutely disgraceful—they haven't mentioned what the campaign is really about or how to get involved, they seem to have gone off half-cooked." However, King refutes suggestions that the association is simply jumping on the bandwagon: "We are not trying to hijack anything— we are showing support for Fain Trials Abroad and if we are going to be criticised for that, then we had better not gat involved at all."
King says that the association cannot give specific legal advice to individual drivers, but has subsequently produced a laminated checklist card for all its international members with advice on how to deal with similar situations.
• dominic.perry@rbl.ce.uk