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 Editorials | Opinions | March 2008 
Try Brenda Martin, or Let Her Go
 National Post
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| | Brenda Martin has been in a Mexican prison since her arrest in February 2006. Her charges are related to a multi-million dollar internet fraud scam run by a former employer. (Glenn Bradbury/Canwest News) | | |
Brenda Martin, the Canadian who has been languishing in a squalid Mexican prison for two years without trial, didn't work for saints. She was a cook to a gang of conmen who perpetuated perhaps the largest Internet fraud in history. But there is little evidence that she did anything more for the rip-off artists than keep their liquor cabinet well-stocked, make them meals and take the ringleader's elderly mother jewellery shopping. That's hardly the resume of an international racketeer. So if it takes a call from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Mexican President Felipe Calderon to win her release - or at least have the Mexican government reveal any evidence it has that she is a money launderer - then Mr. Harper should make such a call.
There is an expectation among Canadians who travel and live abroad that the federal government will come to their aid should they find themselves entangled in a foreign justice system. Indeed, several Foreign Affairs department publications, as well as the department's website, encourage travellers to contact the nearest embassy or consulate first thing after he or she is arrested in another land. Allegations of abuse will be followed up, lawyers and translators arranged, and consular staff may even accompany the accused to court to ensure due process is followed.
There is no proof - other than complaints from Ms. Martin's friends and her Toronto lawyer - that Canada's representatives in Mexico have done less than they could to secure her release. Several diplomatic notes have been sent back and forth between Ottawa and the Mexican government. In December, Mexico's ambassador to Canada, Emilio Goicoechea Luna, even visited the Guadalajara prison where Ms. Martin is being held. And last month, Helena Guergis, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, went to Mexico City to see what she could do on behalf of the Trenton, Ont., native.
Whatever has been done so far, though, has not been enough. Last week, Ms. Martin, who has been cellmate to murderers and kidnappers and who has fallen to under 100 pounds, was placed in the Puente Grande prison's hospital room to protect her from herself. She is so despondent that she is now on a constant suicide watch. Her mood will undoubtedly be worsened, too, by the news on Monday that a Mexican judge has dismissed her application to have all charges against her thrown out because she was not provided with a translator during her initial police interrogation.
This case has moved beyond the point where local efforts by Canadian diplomats in Mexico can resolve the matter. At the very least, Maxime Bernier, Foreign Affairs Minister, must appeal directly to his Mexican counterpart. Or Mr. Harper may have to call Mr. Calderon.
Ordinary Canadians can act, too, by boycotting Mexico as a tourist destination. Ms. Martin's mistreatment - along with the suspicious deaths of six Canadians in Mexico in the past two years - makes Mexico an unsafe place for tourists. While Mr. Harper and his government are working harder to win the Trenton caterer's release, the rest of us can make our displeasure known by booking our tropical vacations in Hawaii or the Caribbean instead.
If Mexico wants Canadians' vacation dollars, it has to ensure Ms. Martin is released or tried (preferably released) and that our citizens are no longer subject to Third World justice. |
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