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 Editorials | Issues | March 2008 
Macklin Convinced Martin May Not Survive
 Northumberland Today
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 |  | Thank goodness, after a year and a half, this is a national story. I shudder to think whether she would even be alive today if we hadn't started this.
- Paul Macklin |  | | | |
Paul Macklin, former Northumberland MP, is convinced that the Trenton woman imprisoned in Mexico may not survive if she doesn't get out soon.
It's not just the hunger strikes and suicide attempts Brenda Martin has tried since she was imprisoned February 17, 2006. It's also the conditions she is in - the lack of basic hygiene needs such as toilet paper and toothpaste.
Most disturbing to him is the news that a verdict may already be in the works.
"What I find really scary is that I have heard that the judge who will be deciding the case has already written 800 pages of a final decision to convict her," he said.
"What about the trial? Where's due process? Do our passports melt in the Mexican sun?"
"This has got my blood boiling. This girl is going to die on us if we don't get her out of there. I don't know how long she can handle this."
Ms. Martin's friend and advocate, Deb Tieleman, recently told the media Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, the deputy-attorney general of Mexico, is the judge in the case, and the report of a judgment being written has been confirmed by Canada's Consul General Robin Dubeau, who acted as a translator at a meeting between Ms. Martin and the judge.
The judge "told (Ms. Martin) her rights had never been abused and that she was a liar," Ms. Tieleman said, and warned her, if she appealed, it would delay her stay in jail by five months.
Ms. Tieleman added, a moment of hope did arrive for Brenda Martin on Wednesday, March 12, when former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin spent approximately 45 minutes with her in the prison.
Mr. Macklin, who was a member of Mr. Martin's Liberal government, got involved with the case almost a year ago, when a group of people in the Quinte West area wanted to help Ms. Martin but couldn't find anyone to lead the cause.
A lawyer himself, Mr. Macklin interviewed the Edmonton journalist who raised and kept Ms. Martin's story in the public profile, after originally investigating her employer. He had interviewed Ms. Martin before she was incarcerated and was completely convinced of her innocence.
Mr. Macklin sees Ms. Martin as having three strikes against her: she's a woman, she's poor and she's charged with a criminal offence in a Mexican jail.
"If it was the prime minister's daughter or son, they would have been out of there in a hurry," Mr. Macklin declared.
"Thank goodness, after a year and a half, this is a national story. I shudder to think whether she would even be alive today if we hadn't started this."
"What's gone on in this case is almost beyond belief. To let this sort of torture go on - and I use that term in a generic sense - for a year and a half before you really get engaged, I would expect more than that."
Hearing that Northumberland-Quinte West MP Rick Norlock is speaking with Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a hopeful sign, he said, "but these are things that should have happened ages ago. I asked the prime minister last fall to get a diplomatic note off and got an administrative response."
Yesterday morning, the Prime Minister's Office announced Mr. Harper is "considering several options" to assist Ms. Martin, after meeting with Mr. Norlock Wednesday night.
"The prime minister is as concerned as we are. The diplomatic note has gone to Mexico and the prime minister is considering several options though I cannot say what he is going to do," Mr. Norlock said. "He's becoming more and more abreast of the file than he was before, but one of the cautions that he raised is that, as part of international relationships, Canada cannot interfere with the judicial system in another country."
The diplomatic note is "about as forceful a way" as possible to get Canada's point across, Mr. Norlock said, adding the government expects a reply from Mexico "in the near future." Mr. Norlock was scheduled to meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier again yesterday.
"You have to do things incrementally.... We don't want to further exacerbate Ms. Martin's situation," said Mr. Norlock.
Mr. Martin disagrees. The Mexican government, reacting to the Canadian government, could direct its prosecutor to withdraw charges, for example, releasing Ms. Martin from jail and prosecution, he suggested.
"It happens here. It happens everywhere," said Mr. Macklin, former parliamentary secretary to the Canadian justice minister.
Meanwhile, Mr. Macklin's Save Brenda Fund has received $25,000 to date for her defence costs and basic health-care needs. And the Save Brenda Martin FaceBook site has almost 2,000 active members.
There has, however, been some misinformation circulated about the fund.
A flyer was put on the windshield of Mr. Macklin's car while he was in Trenton this week containing inaccurate information about the Internet site and fund, Mr. Macklin states in a media release.
"Neither myself, nor any of the legal trustees of the fund had any knowledge that this flyer was going to be distributed, nor that there were others involved in fundraising," Mr. Macklin writes.
"Of even greater concern is the fact that the information regarding how to donate through various Canadian banks is in error," it continues.
To donate to the Brenda Fund or for more information, donors should go to www.savebrenda.ca or contact Mr. Macklin at 905-342-2402.
With files from Cecilia Nasmith, Valerie MacDonald and the Belleville Intelligencer |
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