Pubdate: Wed, 03 Oct 2007 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Copyright: 2007, The Globe and Mail Company Contact: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 Author: Timothy Schafer, Canadian Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada) SUPPORTERS RALLY FOR U.S. ARMY DESERTER NELSON, B.C. -- Supporters of a U.S. army deserter gathered at the police station yesterday to ensure that the man - the second deserter to be arrested here this year - got a fair hearing with a lawyer if he was to be deported. Robin Long, 24, was arrested on a nationwide warrant while walking in downtown Nelson, a city that has been described in international news reports as a haven for war resisters. Mr. Long was visiting from Ontario and staying with two fellow war resisters. This follows the Feb. 23 arrest of Kyle Snyder at his Nelson home by officers acting on a detention order by Canada Border Services Agency. Immigration Canada was expected to make a decision whether Mr. Long would be deported or released. Of the 60 war resisters across Canada, only two have been arrested and faced deportation, both of them in the West Kootenay city. But Nelson city police said Mr. Long was arrested as a result of regular police work, not a targeting effort against war resisters. Police Chief Dan Maluta said an officer noticed four men in a park smoking what he alleged to be marijuana and investigated. In running a check on the four, the officer discovered the warrant and arrested Mr. Long. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake