Pubdate: Fri, 20 Apr 2007
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Gary Dimmock, Ottawa Citizen

RCMP DEFENDS WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM

A top RCMP officer yesterday defended the force's witness protection 
program, saying that its paid agents, mostly criminals, don't live in 
a "bubble" and are not immune from prosecution after they assume 
their "new life," in which they get free automobiles, houses, 
education, and all their debts paid.

Raf Souccar, the RCMP's assistant commissioner, testified yesterday 
at a House of Commons committee that there is a perception that 
criminals who are paid as police informants are above the law.

In fact, the force's 700 agents are subject to the law, and never 
spared prosecution, Assistant Commissioner Souccar said.

The Commons committee on public safety and national security 
yesterday launched an all-party probe into the RCMP's witness 
protection program after the Citizen exposed Richard Young, an RCMP 
agent who fabricated crime plots in exchange for hundreds of 
thousands of dollars -- only to go on to kill under an identity 
afforded him by the RCMP.

The agent was signed on despite an RCMP polygraph expert's concerns 
about his stories. He was never charged for lying to RCMP officers 
about plots to kill officials, including a prosecutor in Victoria.

At the first day of public hearings yesterday, top Mounties fielded 
basic questions about the program.

The assistant commissioner said that over time, RCMP handlers 
"diminish" their time spent with paid agents. In fact, the RCMP is 
notified when its agents have broken the law when they are arrested 
by other police forces.

It is against the law for the Citizen to identify the RCMP agent's 
present identity.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine