robbster 08 Sep 2007 08:49 pm
Update on Eric Volz… September 8, 2007
We first posted about Eric volz in late April of this year. Here is today’s update:
A Foundation To Build on…Day #291 for Eric in prison
For those of you who read Eric’s last letter (http://www.friendsofericvolz.com/updates.htm#aug8letter ), unfortunately his instincts were correct when he said there would probably be a repressive response by the authorities to the fact that he published such a straight-forward description of how he has become a political prisoner.
We have just been informed that his access to phone calls has been cut to one 15 minute call per week. He must now choose between calling his attorney or his family.
A couple of weeks ago, Eric had his first asthma attack in 10 years. Apparently it was pretty intense and the prison doctor prescribed medicine and asked us to purchase a nebulizer that Eric could keep in his cell for emergencies. We purchased the nebulizer and the medicines and were able to get them to Eric. Two days later the prison warden gave orders to take the nebulizer and the medicines from Eric. That night he had a serious episode and had no medicine.There is also information that the prison has received orders from the government to move Eric to another block in the prison. This is of utmost concern for us since the prison authorities are well aware of the fact that all the other galleries are extremely dangerous for Eric.
Eric has shared that if they move him it is a tactic to keep him in prison because the other galleries are very violent.
With the image the Nicaraguan media has created of Eric as a rich, white, privilege gringo he will be a target of all the thieves and trouble-makers. The problem this creates is that he will have to fight and defend himself. If he hurts someone the authorities will jump at the chance to prosecute him for a new crime and crimes in jail carry double the sentence as those committed on the street.
It creates a vicious cycle and the guards commonly utilize this tactic when the authorities don’t want a prisoner to go free.
We are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening. After all, as a “prisoner in process” (someone whose sentence has not been confirmed), by Nicaraguan law, Eric is to be kept apart from the confirmed sentence population.
Taking that into consideration, moving Eric to another gallery would be yet another violation of the law.
On Monday the 27th of August the national newspaper “La Prensa” ran an article where the President of the group overseeing Eric’s appeal stated that they would “possibly” be announcing their verdict in the next 4-5 weeks, which would be the beginning of October.
We must also remind you all that at the end of July one of the judges ruling on Eric’s appeal said they would be announcing the verdict in the first couple of days of August. Before that they said the second week in June. The delays are like a stab in everyone’s heart.
Nicaraguan law requires that appeals must be resolved within a maximum of 30 days from the date it was submitted. Eric’s appeal is in its 7th month and now the court is saying it will be yet another month.
Eric is faced with a race between a deteriorating prison time bomb and an appeals court that isn’t concerned with how long he stays in prison. Because of the overwhelming support and concern we have received, we wanted to keep you informed of the on-going issues Eric is facing.
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Source Google groups “Free Eric Volz” group.
