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TOM FLETCHER (Black Press)

B.C. Auditor-General John Doyle has applied to B.C. Supreme Court for details of the legal defence costs for Dave Basi and Bob Virk, convicted of breach of trust last fall for their role in the sale of BC Rail operations.

In a petition fi led Tuesday, a lawyer for the auditor-general’s offi ce said the information is needed so Doyle can sign off on the province’s accounts for the fi scal year. The province’s lawyer offered to comply, but lawyers for Basi and Virk cited lawyer-client privilege and refused, the petition states.

Ministerial assistants in the B.C. Liberal government while BC Rail operations were up for sale in 2002-03, Basi and Virk pleaded guilty in Octo-ber 2010 to disclosing confi dential bidding information and accepting benefi ts from a competing bidder. Their guilty pleas put an abrupt end to an eight-year investigation and court case that began with a police raid on the B.C. legislature.

The B.C. government’s decision to pay an estimated $6 million in defence costs has been a lightning

rod for critics. The policy was for the government to pay for legal defence of employees charged in connection with their offi cial duties, and recover those costs if the employee is found guilty.

Cabinet members have insisted there was no political interference in the decision to pay Basi and Virk’s legal bills, made by the deputy fi nance minister and deputy attor-ney general. They determined that the majority of costs from years of pre-trial arguments would never be recovered from Basi and Virk, and costs to taxpayers would continue to

mount without the guilty pleas.In legislature debate in February,

interim NDP leader Dawn Black noted that the $6 million legal payment was the same amount cut from the Crown prosecutor budget this year.

“The government only covers defence costs in the event of an acquittal, but two Liberal insiders were given a last-minute sweet-heart deal that cut short the BC Rail corruption trial,” Black said.

Liberal house leader Rich Cole-man replied that the accused fi led a statement of fact with their guilty pleas, stating that they acted alone.

AUDITOR WANTS BC RAIL TRIAL COSTS

VANCOUVER (Canadian Press)

Friends of a University of British Columbia student whose husband is accused of gouging out her eyes when she returned home to Bangladesh fora visit earlier this month are raising funds to help pay for her recovery.

The shocked UBC community also plans a rally this Sunday to protest violence against women.

According to their Facebook page, the No More Violence Against Women; Justice for Rumana Mon-zur, about 225 people already plan to attend the rallyoutside the Vancouver Art Gallery.

“This is so horrible,” Lucy How wrote on the page. “I cannot believe it. I am deeply shocked.”

UBC president Stephen Toope said in a statement posted online that Indian doctors have assessed Monzur’s eye injuries and agreed no further treat-ment is possible. She is now blind. He said Monzur is now recovering at home with family.

Toope said the UBC community has created a fund to help pay for Monzur’s recovery and the university is also mulling long-term plans to help the 33-year-old complete her master’s degree in political science.

“This tragic occasion is a poignant marker of the need to work to protect the fundamental human rightof all women to pursue education,” Toope said. “The allegations that her commitment to her studies was afactor in the attack are of grave concern.”

UBC RALLIES BEHIND BLINDED STUDENT

FILE PHOTO

Dave Basi, left, stops briefly to speak to reporters outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver in this file photo from October.

Business: The Bank of Canada eyes economic threats at home and abroad [9]

World |Barack Obama announces plans to withdraw 30,000 troops from Afghanistan.[5]

Wizardry |J.K. Rowling will reveal a new Harry Potter project today in London.[7]

Canada |The Tories release docu-ments on the possible torture of Afghan detainees.[4]

Sports | Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler and GM Mike Gillis win big at the NHL awards in Las Vegas.[10]

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