The Brenda Martin Song & Dance
March 26, 2008
Sing a simple-minded song… Do what the government says! Laws are laws, our rights can wait. Mexico’s a sovereign state! Brenda Martin’s dead.
Uncle seeks justice for niece
Thu, March 20, 2008
But Doug Currie isn’t encouraged by PM Stephen Harper’s remarks on the Mexico case.
By DEBORA VAN BRENK, SUN MEDIA
The uncle of Brenda Martin …wasn’t encouraged by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s comments in London yesterday. Harper said the process of Martin’s case has been “unacceptably slow,” but the sovereignty of Mexico must also be respected.
“We are talking about another sovereign country and we are talking about a judicial process,” Harper said after visiting Cleardale public school. “A judicial process 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.”
From Martin being held as collateral: former boss
STEVE RENNIE The Canadian Press March 24, 2008 at 4:31 PM EDT Ottawa — Brenda Martin’s former boss says Mexican officials are using the jailed Canadian woman as collateral for his unpaid debt. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Alyn Waage said Monday his lawyers struck a deal with Mexican officials the day after his arrest in 2001, agreeing to pay $500,000 for his freedom.
“They decided half-a-million dollars and we’ll call it a day, thank you very much,” he said. …
Mexico’s justice system has long been criticized for human-rights abuses. Amnesty International released a report last year citing specific cases of torture and police intimidation, along with arrests without cause and unfair trials. Foreign Affairs’ travel advisory website urges Canadians to exercise a high degree of caution when visiting Mexico, citing “cases of legitimate police officers extorting money from tourists or arresting tourists for minor offences.”
“The prosecutor and the federal judge there — they’re involved in this — feel that they’re owed half-a-million dollars that I was supposed to pay them before I got out of jail, which I didn’t pay,” [Waage] said.
“Until they get that half-a-million dollars, I don’t think they’re going to let them go. They’re holding them for ransom.”
Mr. Waage said he can’t recall the names of the officials who allegedly tried to bribe him.
Liberal MP Dan McTeague, the party’s consular affairs critic, says he knows of one federal prosecutor who he claims has stymied Ms. Martin’s case.
“The impasse seems to stop with this particular prosecutor,” he said.
Update: Wednesday; April 2, 2008
From the April 2 edition of the Londoner’ letter pages
Tasteless and despicable The editorial cartoon regarding Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to a London school (March 26 issue) is so despicable and offensive; I believe that it hit an all time low for the journalistic integrity of The Londoner.
Cartoons require some element of humour and truth to be funny. To suggest the prime minister relishes the thought of a Canadian dying in a foreign jail is almost as bizarre and dangerous as those who deny the holocaust. And considering the article in The Globe and Mail March 27 that verifies the government has been in regular contact with Ms. Martin since February, 2006, I can only hope The Londoner feels some remorse. Because The Londoner chose to print this incredibly tasteless cartoon, I am both saddened and horrified for the children who were excited to meet their prime minister. And because The Londoner didn’t even report on the prime minister’s visit to announce that Cleardale School would be the first in Canada to start the Medical Alert bracelets program, I find this doubly troubling. Sandra Barker, London
Update: Wednesday; April 2, 2008
Here is an interesting video at the chawed rosin
The break in the case occurred when the German Chancellor asked for his release.
From The National Post:… he wonders how his former lawyer, Marco Antonio del Toro of Guadalajara, can be allowed to own an asset bought with the proceeds of his crime while Ms. Martin languishes in prison, accused of accepting a grand total of $26,000 from Waage.
Canadian con man Alyn Waage yesterday said he was surprised to learn that his former Puerto Vallarta mansion is now owned by his Mexican lawyer, a close friend and advisor to former Mexican president Vicente Fox …
April 16, 2008 at 9:54 am
I can’t believe what the Mexican goverment is doing to people like Brenda Martin. In Mexico its common for parents on vacation to be murdered in there hotel room, having your wife raped, being murdered for a few dollars. What happens when you go to the authorities and find that they are just as corrupt as the criminals. I for one am boycotting Mexico until the goverment trys to resolve their internal corruption. I found a petition that may help put pressure on the Mexican goverment to change.
http://www.dontvisitmexico.com