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Be aware of Continental cri
Page 12
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is by Jennifer Ball
Legal pressure group Fair Trials Abroad (FTA) has called on operators to raise awareness among their drivers about the risk of falling foul of the law while on the Continent.
Speaking at the Road Haulage Association's international conference, FTA deputy director Sarah de Mas says that truck drivers are particularly vulnerable to being arrested for suspected criminal offences on the Continent. One particular problem is that drivers are targeted by criminal gangs who plant drugs in amongst regular loads. The first the driver will know of it is when he is arrested.
De Mas says that FTA, which offers free legal help to UK prisoners Jailed abroad, is approached on average by one driver a month for legal help on drug smuggling charges alone; and this number is growing.
The FTA now wants every person arrested on suspicion of a crime to be given 'A Letter of Rights' translated into as many languages as required outlining their rights from the moment of arrest. It also wants drivers to be issued with a set of guidelines outlining their fundamental rights, such as the right to be informed in a language they understand of the reason for arrest and charges, and having adequate time to prepare their defence.
De Mas says: "Drivers often have minimum rights with no access to lawyers who speak English or even to translated documents. While crime is growing across Europe, so is law enforcement. However, while the police are clamping down and arresting more people, they are not making more lawyers available to drivers."
Mike Freeman, the RHA's head of international affairs, welcomes the initiative:"We already produce an incident book for operators to provide drivers with, which allows them to record accidents and so forth. If this featured guidelines on European Human Rights, it would provide drivers with a back up which law enforcement agencies [abroad] may take more notice of."
BA Newcastle-upon-Tyne haulier is campaigning for the release of her truck driver husband imprisoned in France for allegedly smuggling £2.5m worth of cannabis.
Father-of-one John Vasey, owner of Houghton le Spring-based JD Vasey Transport was stopped by French Customs in Perpignan on 28 February on his way back from Spain.
His vehicle was searched, and cannabis resin was found in two shrink-wrapped UK-bound pallets he had collected from Barcelona. He is being detained in prison in the Marseilles area while he awaits trial, which could take up to four months.
Emma Vasey says: "For five days, John was unable to contact me, so I began to think he had been in an accident. However, he was in a cell with two Spanish drivers, unable to get washed or changed for all that time. It was the first collection John had made. Customs started to open boxes so we think they suspected foul play anyway, The groupage was all palletised and shrinkwrapped, so there is no way on earth John would have known it was there. The company he was supposed to be delivering to has not been in touch; this in itself has caused suspicion."
A Foreign Office spokeswoman says that John Vasey has been detained in Perpignan prison while the investigation continues. His family have been informed and the British Consul is currently waiting for clearance to visit him.
Organisations including Fair Trials Abroad, the Trucknet and Courier Exchange websites, and the Professional Drivers' Association are all campaigning for Vasey's release. If you would like to make a donation to the John Vasey campaign, contact: www.courierexchange. co.uk or sign the on-line petition at www.trucknetuk.co.uk