FINITA LA COMMEDIA CTV News, the Star, the Post and the Citizen front, while The National goes inside and La Presse briefs (not available online) the return of Brenda Martin to Canadian soil. High-level diplomatic contacts were necessary to negotiate Martin’s transfer into Canadian custody, after serving two years of her five-year sentence in a Mexican women’s prison on (vigorously denied) charges that she accepted funds from an Internet fraud scheme run by her former employer. As part of the deal for her transfer, Martin had to sign documents agreeing to an identical five-year sentence on a Canadian charge of receiving illicit funds, but she is eligible for “accelerated parole review” by the National Parole Board and will likely be out of prison within weeks. Both of last night’s broadcasts show the unassuming Challenger jet, sent by the government to fetch Martin back from Guadalajara at a hefty $5,000 per hour, touching down at Kitchener Airport. The National’s shot is blocked by a fuel truck, deliberately placed by airport authorities to screen the jet from the media, so one must turn to CTV News and its more intrepid camera operator to catch a long-range glimpse of Martin’s thoroughly uneventful transfer from the white plane to a black Corrections Canada van. The mildly histrionic spectacle of a middle-aged woman’s fraying mental state and shrill (but never specified) allegations of Mexican judicial corruption have been a perfect match for CTV News’ tone and attitude, and thus John Vennavally-Rao gives us a comprehensively reported piece on the day’s least newsworthy story.
Daniel Casey is a Montreal-based MediaScout writer for Maisonneuve Magazine.
Friday May 2, 2008 Martin back from Mexico jail
A tired but relieved Brenda Martin finally stepped onto Canadian soil yesterday, after more than two...Martin signed the documents on the advice of her Canadian criminal defence lawyer, who told her she would be immediately eligible for parole because she had already served more than a third of her sentence.
Saturday 26 April 2008 OTTAWA, MEXICO CITY: GOVT. PAID JAILED CANADIAN'S FINE
Cabinet minister Jason Kenney has told the Canadian Press that the foreign affairs department has lent Canadian Brenda Martin the money to pay the $3,500 fine which a court imposed on her earlier in the when it ruled her guilty of fraud. The court ruled that she was an accomplice in an Internet fraud scheme of her former employer, who cheated 15,000 investors out of US$60 million, although she maintains she didn't know what he was up to. The former employer is serving a 10-year sentence for fraud in the U.S. Mrs. Martin has been in jail in Guadalajara for more than two years. The payment clears a hurdle for Mrs. Martin to be escorted back to Canada by officers of Correctional Service of Canada. Mr. Kenney is accompanied by Conservative Party MP Rick Norlock, who played down expectations that Mrs. Martin will soon be released.
Wednesday 23 April 2008
ENDGAME FOR BRENDA MARTIN
The National, CTV News and the Star lead, while the Globe, the Post, and the Citizen go inside with a Mexican court’s guilty verdict for Canadian citizen Brenda Martin. The Post offers a handy summary of the case: Martin received severance pay in 2001 after she was dismissed as a cook at a villa in Puerto Vallarta owned by Alyn Waage, but little did she know (she claims) that her payment was part of the proceeds from Waage’s enormous internet fraud scam. Waage was arrested in 2001 when the scam unravelled, but Martin was not charged with receiving stolen funds until 2006. Since then, she has been in prison in Guadalajara, successfully using the Canadian media to elicit support for her case and providing them with emotional TV appearances and increasingly loopy behaviour. They were out in force yesterday, crowding into a Guadalajara courtroom as the judge read his verdict among fluorescent lighting and linoleum floors. Martin’s friend and advocate, Debra Tieleman, was there with a plane ticket, ready to triumphantly spirit her childhood pal back to Canada, but was reduced to anger and sputtering when she learned that Martin had been sentenced to five years in prison.
It’s hard to be Brenda Martin right now, even though CTV News reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper himself is personally “micromanaging” the efforts to have her serve her sentence in Canada. (Should Martin be happy or discouraged, we wonder?) But it’s harder to be a Mexican participant in one of the country’s myriad internationally newsworthy stories, for which the Canadian media don’t show up (while the interest in this conveniently climactic affair is evident in CTV News’ Lisa Laflamme’s glowing Mexi-tan). It’s harder still to be Brenda Martin’s parents, who were shown on last night’s broadcasts breaking down in front of news cameras as they heard the bad news about their daughter on TV—“it’s probably going to kill her,” sobbed Martin’s mother in a cringingly self-reflexive television moment so lurid with private pain as to be pornographic. It’s easy, however, to make facile and unrevealing comparisons to other high-profile court cases. Both the Star and The National juxtapose Martin’s setback with the release of Robert Baltovich, whose 1992 conviction for the killing of his girlfriend Elizabeth Bain (possibly the work of serial killer Paul Bernardo) was reversed in a retrial that handed down a not-guilty verdict yesterday. The contrast, like the Martin case itself, doesn’t really tell us much about justice or the justice system that we didn’t already know: When bad people do bad things, the shadow of their acts is cast beyond them to dim the lives of others; some as unlucky victims, caught unawares at the edge of the darkness, and others who may have unwisely thought they could hew close to it while staying within reach of the light.
GUADALAJARA: CANADIAN GUILTY OF MONEY-LAUNDERING
A Mexican judge has found a Canadian woman guilty of money-laundering charges. Brenda Martin was handed a five-year sentence and fined nearly $3,600 in Guadalajara. She has been jailed there for over two years in connection with an Internet scam run by her former boss, who is now imprisoned in the U.S. The 51-year old Martin worked as his chef and has consistently maintained her innocence. But the Judge's ruling stated that Martin knew there were illicit funds involved. Martin has been on suicide watch at the prison and her long wait to face trial prompted Canadian officials to recently urge that deliberations be speeded up. She is expected to be transferred to Canada to serve her time if she agrees not to appeal the sentence.
Saturday Apr 19, 2008 Another delay for Canadian in Mexico jail
A judgment has been made in the case of jailed Canadian Brenda Martin, according to a Mexican justice...
Tuesday 15 April 2008 The country's top leftist politician has predicted that the federal government will be unable to pass legislation concerning the state oil firm before the current legislative session ends on April 30. The leader of the Democratic Revolution Party, Manuel Andrés Lopez Obrador, addressed a crowd of 100,000 in Mexico City's central square and demanded a national debate about the future of Petroleos de Mexico. The country's existing law forbids most private and foreign involvement in the oil industry. But the government of President Felipe Calderon wants to remedy declining production by enabling Pemex to pay bonuses to private firms to assist in exploration. Mr. Obrador's and two smaller ones have been camping out around the clock in both chambers of the legislature to block discussion of the legislation.
Tuesday 15 April 2008 GUADALAJARA: JAILED CANADIAN GETS FINAL HEARING
A Canadian woman who has spent over two years in a Mexican jail had her final hearing before a judge on Monday. Brenda Martin was charged with money-laundering by Mexican authorities, after her former boss was found guilty of running a $60-million Internet investment scheme. He's now serving a 10-year jail sentence in a U.S. prison, but has backed Mrs. Martin's claim of innocence in a sworn affidavit. The 51-year old Mrs. Martin says she worked for the man but knew nothing of the illegal scam he was running. In her final statement to the judge, she declared she is innocent of the charges and just wants to go home. The judge has said he'll issue his verdict no later then next Monday.
Friday 11 April 2008 MEXICO CITY: OFFICIALS WOMAN WILL HAVE DAY IN COURT
The case of a Canadian woman in a Mexican prison will finally be heard after two years without a trial. Mexican officials said Thursday a ruling will be handed down next week in the case of Brenda Martin. She is in jail in Guadalajara on charges of money laundering, a charge she denies. Ms. Martin's case has drawn widespread attention in Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper telephoned Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, last month to discuss the case.
Tuesday 25 March 2008 OTTAWA: CANADIAN JAILED IN MEXICO CALLED COLLATERAL
The former employer of a Canadian woman jailed for the past two years in Mexico has offered an explanation for the length of her detention. Albertan Alyn Waage had already sworn that 51-year-old Brenda Martin knew nothing about his Internet scam to swindle 15,000 investors out of nearly US$60 million. Waage, who is now serving a 10-year prison sentence in the U.S., has told the Canadian Press news agency that he and his lawyers had agreed to pay $500,000 in bail to be freed from jail in Mexico but fled to Costa Rica without paying it after an appeals court released him. Waage now claims that the Mexicans are holding Mrs. Martin and a second former employee, an American, as hostages until the money is paid. Mrs. Martin was arrested in February 2006 on charges with money laundering and participating in a criminal scheme.
Friday 21 March 2008 OTTAWA: WOMAN JAILED IN MEXICO APPEALS TO PM
A Canadian woman in jail in Mexico since February 2006 on money-laundering charges says the visit to her jail cell in Guadalajara this week by two Members of Parliament was nothing by a "dog and pony show." Brenda Martin told the Canadian Press that Jason Kenney and Rick Norlock met with her for political gain now that her plight has been attracting attention. But she says she's not optimistic she'll be freed and has appealed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to save her life. The two MPs met this week with officials in the attorney general's office, the foreign ministry and the prison. The 51-year-old Mrs. Martin is accused of involvement in money-laundering and conspiracy in connection with the activities of her former boss who employed her as a cook. The Alberta man is serving a 10-year jail term in the U.S. for having cheated 15,000 investors out of almost US$60 million in an Internet scam. He has sworn that Mrs. Martin knew nothing of his activities.
Mexico says it wants to resolve the case of a 51-year-old Canadian woman who has been in jail in Guadalajara without trial for more than two years. Brenda Martin is charged with fraud. In a diplomatic note, the Mexican government also says its judicial system is independent. The note is in response to concerns raised by the Canadian government last week. On Monday, Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, called Mexican President Felipe Calderon to discuss the case. Mrs. Martin says she is innocent, and has lost the will to live. Mexican authorities say they are watching over her to prevent her from taking her own life. A Canadian Member of Parliament, Jason Kenney, plans to visit her this week when he travels to Mexico to discuss the case.
Wednesday 12 March 2008 OTTAWA: GOVT. TRIES TO HELP CANADIAN JAILED IN MEXICO
Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier says he has appealed to his Mexican counterpart on behalf of Brenda Martin, who has spent the last two years in jail on money-laundering charges. The minister told the House of Commons that he asked that the case be resolved as soon as possible. Mr. Bernier was responding to a question from Liberal Member of Parliament Dan McTeague who called for a formal, diplomatic note of protest over the case. Mrs. Martin suffered a legal setback on Monday when a Mexican court refused to dismiss the charges on the grounds that her rights had been flouted and ordered a criminal trial. Mrs. Martin was working as a cook for an Alberta man who is serving a 10-year jail sentence in the U.S. for have perpetrated a multi-million-dollar Internet fraud scam. Her former employer has sworn an affidavit that she knew nothing of his activities.
Sunday 09 March 2008 TORONTO: NO RELEASE FOR CANADIAN WOMAN HELD IN MEXICAN PRISON
A Canadian woman who has spent more than two years in a Mexican prison had her hopes dashed of being released on Friday. Brenda Martin faces charges of being involved in an Internet fraud scheme. She maintains her innocence. She was told to expect a decision on her human rights case on Friday, but heard anything. Under international law, she should have been provided with an interpreter during interviews with police. If the court finds her rights were violated, she could be released. Miss Martin was working as a cook for a man who is serving a ten-year sentence in a U.S. jail for his part in the scheme. He has said that Miss Martin knew nothing of his activities.
2007
Monday Dec 3, 2007 Canadian denied basic rights in Mexico jail, lawyer says
Consulate 'abandoned' woman, says childhood friend who found her legal help EDMONTON - A Canadian woman imprisoned for nearly two years in Mexico was denied her most basic legal rights and our consulate did nothing to help her receive due process, her new lawyer says.
"The Canadian consulate has asked for information about her case, but I have not seen any evidence that (those) officials have tried to help Brenda Martin obtain her legal rights under international law," said Guillermo Cruz Rico.
The Mexican attorney works in the Toronto office of high-profile Canadian lawyer Eddie Greenspan.
Friday 23 February 2007
Most Canadians not eager to visit Mexico, poll finds Mexico as a vacation destination has suffered in the eyes of Canadians because of recent unsolved crimes which many blame on that country's incompetent police and corrupt legal system, a new poll reveals.
Saturday 17 February 2007
'Integration' talks spark fierce debate A sweeping accord for the economic integration of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico has unleashed a firestorm of debate south of the border.
Wednesday Nov 16, 2005 ts Mexican shopkeeper wins her own cola war
Mexico has imposed its biggest anti-monopoly fines ever ? $68 million (U.S.) ? against Coca-Cola and dozens of its distributors and bottlers.
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