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 Editorials | Issues | March 2008 
Ottawa Must Help Get Brenda Martin Out of Mexican Jail, Her Supporters Say
 CBC News
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Canada should step up efforts to help free an Ontario woman, who has been jailed in Mexico for more than two years without a trial, by formally protesting her imprisonment, her supporters say.
Over the weekend, Brenda Martin, 51, of Trenton was heavily sedated and placed under 24-hour guard in the prison hospital after a court decision expected Friday didn't come through. She had already been placed under suicide watch days earlier.
Brenda Martin was arrested in 2006 on fraud charges after working for a man later convicted in an internet fraud scheme.
The court was expected to determine whether Martin should be released on the claim that her human rights were violated under international law because no interpreter was provided during initial police interviews.
Debra Tieleman, a longtime friend who has led the fight to free the Trenton, Ont., woman, told CBC News that Martin was "devastated" about the lack of a decision.
Tieleman said there was word a decision might come sometime on Monday, but says what Martin really needs is for the Canadian government to intervene.
"I think what she's holding on to now is the formal diplomatic note of protest that we have been encouraging the government to send to Mexico because it's really what has to happen here," she says.
"It's important that the government do something that's going to encourage some action on behalf of Mexico because quite obviously up until now they've not taken Foreign Affairs seriously. Their efforts have resulted in absolutely nothing."
In February 2006, Martin was charged with money laundering and being part of a criminal conspiracy, a multimillion-dollar internet fraud scheme. She has been in jail since her arrest.
She was employed for 10 months in Puerto Vallarta as a chef for a former Albertan, Alyn Richard Waage, in 2001.
He pleaded guilty in 2005 to operating an internet fraud scheme while pretending to be an investor, and is serving a 10-year sentence in U.S. jail.
Martin has maintained her innocence. A sworn affidavit from Waage also says Martin had no knowledge of his operations.
Papers were filed in a Mexican court Jan. 7 asking that all charges against Martin be dismissed due to human rights violations.
A judge said at the time that no decision would be made until 60 days passed. |
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