Suspected Drugs Dealers Premused Guilty
ARE you innocent until proven guilty?
Police will be able to seize high-value assets from suspected drug dealers as soon as they are arrested under plans to be unveiled this week by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary.
If you are suspected of a crime the [police can seize your assets.
Law-enforcement agencies will be able to take cars, televisions, laptops and expensive jewellery belonging to big-time offenders. Such assets can currently only be seized at the end of a criminal process, by which time drug dealers have often disposed of them.
Perhaps the goods are sold to pay for a decent defence lawyer to escape a wrongful arrest? Perhaps Jacqui Smith, who admits to having smoked cannabis, thinks seizing dugs is better than walking the dangerous streets looking to buy them illegally?
A Home Office spokesman said last night: “Our starting point will be that all criminal gains should be removed from offenders. For example those criminals buying commodities to avoid the circulation of cash could have their assets seized before they have chance to disperse them. Seizing ill-gotten gains is critical to reducing the incentives for crime.”
Great plan. Only, how do the police know which is an–ill-gotten gain and which is not? And if the suspect is found not guilty can they sue the police for depreciation of their assets?
Posted: 24th, February 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Money, Politicians Comments (2) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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February 24th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
And another step to add concern is described in the Mail on Sunday today, Feb 24, 2008:
“Now taxman can bug your home and phone calls”. The text states: “Tax inspectors have been given wide-ranging new powers to bug people’s homes and private phone calls.
They also have the go-ahead to intercept emails and plant listening devices in the suspects’ cars and offices.
The move is the latest expansion of surveillance powers which, until recently, were only available to the police and intelligence services.
Revenue officers used to work to a set of strict rules that even banned them from looking in cupboards at a home or business during a visit without express permission.
But now officials investigating allegations of tax evasion can pry into every aspect of a suspect’s life in the hunt for evidence. ” SNIP
February 24th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I commented on this when I read it.
Surely this is another step towards a police state? Supposing someone has been set up?
Makes me feel very uncomfortable.