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Vasey clan urge PM to protect UK truckers
Page 13
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THE FAMILY OF John Vasey, the British haulier jailed in France for allegedly smuggling £2.5m worth of cannabis, has launched a mass e-mail appeal to the Prime Minister. urging him to help British truck drivers held in overseas jails.
Vasey's mother, Mary, says the family has canvassed local MPs about named drivers and organised demos, but it is now time to shift the campaign up a gear.
"If Tony Blair receives enough e-mails then hopefully he will take notice of us,she says. 'There are hundreds of drivers held in foreign prisons either having been charged or convicted with 'importation and transportation' of illegal substances. Truck drivers are in effect postmen. They know the goods they are transporting. but cannot check what is in the load as the recipient can refuse it if it is open."
Vasey was stopped by French Customs on 28 February last year on his way back from Spain. His truck was searched and cannabis resin was found in pallets of ceramic tiles which he had collected from a regular Spanish customer in Barcelona. He has been held in Perpignan prison for more than a year and is expected to be given a date for his trial hearing soon • Contact www.courierexchange .co.uk or www.pda-uLorg