Environmentalist jailed in Texas

Robert Matas

Friday, January 7, 2000

Vancouver -- A B.C. environmentalist has been held in a Texas immigration detention centre for more than a month.

Ira Zbarsky has spent the past decade working in Guatemala. He was on his way back to Canada when he was detained on Dec. 4 at the U.S.-Mexico border, friend Alan Ramon Ward said yesterday.

The reason for the detention could not be confirmed yesterday. Mr. Ward said Mr. Zbarsky was held after a random search turned up a 1978 conviction in Canada for possession of marijuana. Mr. Zbarsky was fined $25 as a result of the conviction.

A judge at a hearing on Dec. 16 decided there were insufficient grounds to deport him, but Mr. Zbarsky has been held in custody until a second hearing, set for Jan. 12.