Thread: Harper calls case of Canadian women held in Mexico jail 'tro

Harper calls case of Canadian women held in Mexico jail 'troubling'
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Wed Mar 19, 11:04 PM



By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press


OTTAWA - A pair of parliamentarians return to Canada Thursday with Mexican officials' assurances they will try to "fast track" the court case of a Canadian woman imprisoned in a Guadalajara jail.


Speaking on a cellphone from Mexico, Conservative MP Jason Kenney told The Canadian Press that senior Mexican officials vowed to urge a judge to render a decision in Brenda Martin's case as quickly as possible.


"I believe that if her defence council works expeditiously in filing the last remaining part of the criminal proceeding with the court, the prosecutor general's office gave us the commitment that they will encourage the judge in the case to render a decision as soon as possible," he said.


"That would probably be in a matter of weeks, rather than months."


But he was also quick to temper expectations about Martin's own return to her native soil.


Kenney, the secretary of state for multiculturalism, and fellow Tory MP Rick Norlock spent two days meeting with senior officials at the Mexican attorney general's office, the foreign ministry and the prison to discuss Martin's plight.


Their efforts, however, do not impress Liberal critic Dan McTeague, who suggests the trip was little more than a photo opportunity, and says he was given similar assurances by Mexican officials four weeks ago.


"Clearly they're not worth the paper they're written on," McTeague told the Canadian Press by phone Wednesday night.


Martin, 51, faces criminal allegations in connection to an investment scam run by her former boss. She has spent more than two years in a Guadalajara prison awaiting her legal fate.


Meanwhile, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday that Martin's case is troubling and upsetting, but Ottawa can't simply demand she be freed.


Harper, who dispatched the two MPs to meet with the woman, said Canadian officials have had about 100 contacts either with their Mexican counterparts or Martin herself in the past two years.


"We're all troubled by the fact that a Canadian has been in a Mexican prison now for two years without trial," Harper said following an event at an elementary school in London, Ont.


"The process is unacceptably slow and I think it troubles all of us."


Still, Harper cautioned that he can't simply demand Martin be released.


"We are talking about another sovereign country and we are talking about a judicial process," Harper said. "A judicial processes is, by definition, independent.


"If the president of Mexico called me and demanded I release a Mexican national, I would not be in the position to do that. We have an independent judicial system."


A statement on the Mexican Embassy's website says President Felipe Calderon called Harper on Monday to discuss the upcoming North American leaders' summit in New Orleans. It doesn't say if the two counterparts spoke about Martin.

The Prime Minister's Office didn't answer repeated questions asking if Harper and Calderon spoke about Martin during their talk on Monday.

Debra Tieleman, a friend and supporter of Martin's, accused Harper of "misleading Canadians who want him to intervene."

In a diplomatic note to Ottawa, the Mexican government attempted last weekend to allay concerns about Martin's treatment. But Mexico also affirmed its desire to let its judicial system handle the case, free from interference.

Martin, of Trenton, Ont., has been detained on allegations of money laundering and participating in a criminal conspiracy in connection with an investment scam involving her former boss, Alyn Waage.

Waage bilked 15,000 investors of nearly US$60 million. He was sentenced in 2005 to 10 years in a U.S. federal prison.

Waage employed Martin as a chef in Puerto Vallarta for 10 months in 2001 while he was operating the Internet fraud scheme.

He has sworn an affidavit claiming Martin knew nothing of the scam.

Martin wasn't charged until five years after Waage's arrest. She maintains her innocence, and has threatened to kill herself if she's not released.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0803 ... a_prisoner

"We're all troubled by the fact that a Canadian has been in a Mexican prison now for two years without trial," Harper said following an event at an elementary school in London, Ont.

Or a meeting with a consulate, lawyer, or any other basic human rights... ....Sorry.....I forgot....it only applies to Mexican people abroad.

"We are talking about another sovereign country and we are talking about a judicial process," Harper said. "A judicial processes is, by definition, independent.

But they, just like us...RESPECTS the law of another country.....even if we don't agree with it.

As Americans we didn't agree with flogging of a college student abroad......but there's times you step in and times you but out. Mexico seems to have an attitude that they can dictate everything...while giving no others a vote.



And they want to include Mexico in the NAU? Please.