By Bill Tieleman, 24 hours columnist
Defence lawyers are alleging that the special prosecutor in a high-profile case where provincial government aides face corruption charges has “allowed political interference to occur.”
Those allegations Friday in B.C. Supreme Court highlighted a testy exchange between defence and Crown in the case of David Basi, Bob Virk and Aneal Basi, who face charges connected to the $1 billion privatization of B.C. Rail.
Basi’s lawyer Michael Bolton argued before Justice Elizabeth Bennett that a court approved protocol to restrict access to evidence seized in a 2003 police raid on the B.C. Legislature was violated by Premier Gordon Campbell’s then deputy minister Ken Dobell and that the special prosecutor was partially to blame.
“We do allege complicity on the part of the special prosecutor in allowing the protocol to be violated,” Bolton said.
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The pre-trial hearings resume July 14 with the defence filing a Charter of Rights application that could see Campbell, Dobell and other top government officials testify in court about the alleged breach of the protocol.
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Special thanks to Bill Tieleman for letting me know that Case #23299 was in Supreme Court today, and for providing this report. Bill's full column is at:
http://billtieleman.blogspot.com/
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