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 Editorials | Issues | March 2008 
Supporters Losing Hope for Jailed Canadian
 Charles Rusnell - edmontonjournal.com
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Edmonton - Supporters of an Ontario woman jailed in Mexico without trial for two years say they have exhausted every avenue to gain her freedom.
"We don't know what else to do now," said Deb Tieleman, a childhood friend of former Trenton, Ont. native Brenda Martin. "I am afraid she is going to die in prison."
Tieleman is frustrated the Harper government has so far ignored requests from supporters and Liberal consular services critic Dan McTeague to issue a diplomatic note demanding Martin's release.
"I expect it, I demand it, and if the government wants, I will even write it for them," McTeague said today. He said Canada has a right, and an obligation, to issue the note because Martin's legal and human rights have been violated under both Mexican and international law.
"Two years in prison is enough. It's time the government of Stephen Harper stands up for a Canadian whose rights have been breached."
Helena Guergis, secretary of state for consular services, is responsible for Martin's case. She has declined comment.
Martin's case was mired in the Mexican justice system until January, when her new lawyers applied to the court in Guadalajara to have the charges against her thrown out because her constitutional rights had been breached. The lawyers contend Mexican authorities never provided Martin with a proper translator either during the police investigation or the court process. Martin has also been housed with convicted criminals in violation of a UN agreement on the treatment of prisoners signed by Canada and Mexico.
The judge in the constitutional challenge had 60 days to issue a ruling but although the deadline is Friday, Martin's lawyer, Guillermo Cruz Rico of Toronto, has not been notified that a ruling will be issued. Late today, a spokesman for the Mexican embassy in Ottawa confirmed that a ruling should be issued Friday but he was not certain what would happen if it is not.
Martin worked for 10 months in 2001 as a chef in Puerto Vallarta for former Edmontonian Alyn Waage. Mexican authorities accuse Martin of helping Waage defraud $60 million from 15,000 victims worldwide through an Internet investment scam. Waage pleaded guilty in 2003 and is serving a 10-year sentence in a North Carolina prison. On Feb. 17, 2006, five years after Waage's arrest, Martin was grabbed off the street by Mexican federal police and charged with money laundering and being part of a criminal conspiracy. She has strongly denied any knowledge or involvement in the scheme and Waage has sworn an affidavit for Mexican authorities supporting Martin's contention.
Martin's supporters are not alone in losing hope for gaining her release.
In recent calls to The Journal, Martin, 51, who now weighs only 90 pounds, appears to have suffered a mental collapse. She cries uncontrollably and pleads to be released.
A retired psychotherapist from Toronto visited Martin in prison earlier this week. Dr. Corrinne Allyson said Martin is suicidal.
"She is at the end of her rope," Allyson said.
crusnell(at)thejournal.canwest.com |
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