OTTAWA--John Cummins, M.P. (Delta) today in the House of Commons called for the release of Kyle Brown from detention and raised the possible invovlement of the antimalarial drug mefloquine in the murder of a prisoner and attempted suicide of MCpl Clayton Matchee in Somalia:

Mr. John Cummins (Delta): Mr. Speaker, Trooper Kyle Brown has been sentenced to five years in jail on charges of manslaughter in the death of a Somali prisoner. The Minister of Defence is now appealing, demanding a longer sentence for Brown.

The Minister and the military establishment knew all along that a longstanding defence existed for Brown who was obeying an order of his superiors, an order that he did not understand to be so outrageous as to be obviously illegal. The Supreme Court last March reaffirmed the availability of this defence.

Furthermore, the Minister and the military establishment ignored the well known effect of mefloquine, a malaria drug administered to Canadian troops in Somalia. Side effects include violent dreams, hallucinations, confusion, anxiety and mental depression. Mefloquine could have precipitated the murder of the prisoner and Master Corporal Matchee's attempted suicide.