Minister of Justice, July 17, 2007

House of Commons

Dear Sir: re the request for transfer of Sacha Bond to Canada

One of the principles of the Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice is to affirm and promote justice , equity , and compassion in human affairs. Consequently we are very concerned with the treatment of Sacha Bond and join with others in the call to transfer Sasha Bond, a twenty-two year old Canadian citizen, to Canada in order to serve the remainder of his prison sentence.

I would like to emphasize that Sacha did play a part in this crime. However there is the question of accountability of the actual bouncers and owners of the location in question who allowed Sacha to enter their premises under age and served him alcohol which indisputably lead to the action and criminal charges.

What we must also consider in this case is that the State of Florida did not take into account his mental illness of bipolar disorder. Dr. Merry Haber, a Miami forensic psychologist, was in charge of assessing Sacha following the laying of charges. She concluded that Sacha should not be held criminally responsible for his actions. She stated that the combination of alcohol which he was given illegally would place the liability of injury or damage squarely on the the owners of the strip bar. In addition he was not on the medication which he requires. She concluded that these factors contributed to a blackout in which Sacha had no control over his actions. She went on to say that Sacha has a future if given the qualified help he requires to follow his drug regimen and is given the psychotherapy and monitoring which he needs.

...he is not able to receive the medication that he needs to control his bipolar disorder. Sacha needs to be transferred to a Canadian prison where he can receive the needed medication.

Canada has a Prisoner Transfer Treaty under which over 200 Canadians who have been found guilty of committing offenses abroad have been granted a return home to serve their sentence in a Canadian correctional institution. Since Sacha does not pose a threat in any way in a Canadian prison and this is his first criminal charge, we ask you to deal humanely with this young man and allow him to be returned to Canada. It must be emphasized that allowing Sacha to remain in Florida for the remainder of the twenty year sentence without the required medication will cause far worse disorders.

Also a return to Canada would allow his family to visit him and assist in his treatment.

Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice ask that you take immediate steps to grant Sacha a transfer to Canada to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Yours truly,

Bob Stevenson,

President of Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice

cc Stephan Dion, MP

Leader of the Liberal Party

Jack Layton, Mp

Leader of the New Democratic Party

Gilles Duceppe, MP

Leader of the Bloc Quebecois