``As the case presently exists, even though we are not pursuing charges, that does not mean that the door is closed. New information could surface and it is always open for more investigation.''by Maurice Smith--RCMP Corp. Grant Learned
A special prosecutor has decided there is not enough evidence to charge a former Oliver Internet service provider for allegedly spreading hate on the Internet.
Bernard Klatt, operator of the Fairview Technology Centre, had been under investigation since a complaint was launched in 1998. The site i sno longer in operation.
Myron Claridge, senior Crown counsel with the criminal justice branch hate crime unit, said there was no evidence on the site "which was of a hate propaganda nature that would allow us to charge the provider".
He said there were linkages to secondary and tertiary sites where material that could be found to be hateful material under Canadian law was found. But "there was no way we could link it directly to his site", he said. "We would have to prove knowledge that he had it and prove willful promoting of the material".
Klatt said he was not surprised that charges couldn't stick. "I knew all along they had no basis in face ot in law for even consideration of any charges", he said yesterday.
He compared holding him responsible for secondary links to holding a paper maker liable for whatever is printed on paper after its purchase.
"If you are an Internet service provider, you are basically in the business of selling digital ink and digital paper", he said.
"What Myron Claridge admitted was that there were second or third level links to some content outside of the country that may have been considered as hateful material under Canadian regulations, but it was never resident on any of our syustes to our knowledge, and they knew that up front."
RCMP spokesman Corporal Grant Learned said the investigation involved both the TCMP hate crimes unit and investigators within the security intelligence section in Vancouver.
"We consulted with the experts in the industry, both police and private, to ensure we had exhausted every possible avenue", he said of the investigation.
He said police agree with the recommendations of Crown counsel, though he added the case may not be closed.
"As the case presently exists, even though we are not pursuing charges, that does not mean that the door is closed. New information could surface and it is always open for more investigation."
Klatt blamed Sol Littman of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for making allegations that could never be substantiated. Littman brought national attention to the issue in 1998 when he claimed the site made the town of Oliver the "hate captial of Canada", a term he later retracted.
"I wish someone would investigate why the provincial government spent two years worth of taxpayers' resources funding various investigative and administrative agencies investigating fraudulent claims by such an individual", Kaltt said.
Claridge did say investigators may have missed some of the material allegedly posted earlier on the site, which intense media attention may have caused to be removed. "When police investigated the site, some of the material described was not there."
He said part of the recommendation for changes to the law the province is recommending to Ottawa would require service providers to keep logs for up to three months.