Kidnapped?

The legal situation in Britain is very different.If a couple of guys get into a bar brawl,which is basically what this is,they are both arrested ,at the time and either bailed or held to be charged in a court.At this point they are again either bailed or held for further investigations.They are brought back to court for sentencing.
Both of the people involved would be questioned equally and treated equally until the evidence and truth is estabilished.Police in the UK dont just arrest people on somebodies say so. Now,in this case ,it appears that the aggressor was injured,apparently?,He is walking around Cancun quite fine while Free is in jail.Ivan must take some responsibilty even if he was hit. The question is was he hit so badly? If he wasnt then he is defrauding the insurance company.If he has no money then the only way he can pay them is by getting Free's family to pay.There may be some idea floating around that Free has a wealthy family.That is absolutely not the case.In Britain people do pay charges to the injured party if found guilty but as Free has not been charged and is only in prison because a Mexican citizen has used their influence to put him there.How can a procurador say that they will let him out if an.arrangement is made with the Ferrats.That looks like,smells like and sounds like state supported kidnapping and corruption.It is becoming increasingly common for poor people to see Westerners as a soft touch for money(Cash Cows)look at what is happening in Somalia,Iraq etc In Britain these conflicts are resolved by the courts.

 

This is a very sensible and humane way of dealing with these kinds of cases, but it's not universal. In the U.S., the police take the complaint and arrest the accused, leaving it up to the courts to work out who is telling the truth.

There will be a question about the seriousness and extent of the unjuries and it will be up to the judge to decide, based on the evidence that comes in from the medical care providers. If the extent of the claim of injuries is exaggerated by them, it will be up to the judge to detect and make allowances for any exaggeration.

Well, yes, he and the doctors and hospitals involved.

I believe not only would Free and Ivan have to agree he should be released, but the prosecutor would have to agree, as well; and, finally, the judge would have to approve the arrangement, believing it's in the interest of justice. This would preserve the integrity of the process, and is among the possible outcomes of some criminal proceedings, even in the U.S.

On this thread, it's been mentioned that there was a point in time, early on, when Ivan had said he'd like to see the charges dropped, but then the issue of reimbursing the insurance company for all those medical charges arose, and he (quite understandibly) changed his mind. As a result, a golden moment was missed in which the case could have been resolved by making arrangements to reimburse the insurance company. Now, positions have hardened, and whatever alarm the political wing of the family felt at that time at being mentioned frequently, negatively, and very publicly, has passed.

You've suggested Free's family might have been hard pressed to come up with the 30,000 euros that might have been required to settle the insurance company's claim, if they'd considered it, but they were undoubtedly feeling agrieved at what had happened, especially since Ivan appears to have started the fight, making it particularly distasteful to think about paying anything to resolve the matter. In hindsight, however, that might not appear to have been such a bad deal....

 

What's your impression of the status of the case, Steve, you think it's still in the investigative stage? I don't know, myself.

There seem to be some hearings set for April- not the trial of the case, though, as I understand it.

 

I think you put far too much faith in the legal system V.

Just look at how screwy the system is in the US, then add ramped corruption, closed door meetings, no due-process, little in the way of rights, and a few bottles of tequila to the mix and you have Mexican justice.

Having faith that "justice will be served" with the innocent going free is wishful thinking, especially here in Mexico IMHO.

If you have means and your case is not high-profile the Mexican system is a Godsend as you can quite literally buy yourself out of most situations, if on the other hand you don't have means, the experience will be a nightmare.

 

Hi, Life, those who've ever gotten caught up in the legal processes of any country, whether criminal or civil, know what an awful experience it is to live through. You live on an emotional knife edge, angry most of the time.

I practiced law for 17 years, living with my frustrations and the anxieties experienced by my clients till I couldn't take it anymore. Imagine the worst problem you've ever had, with a home remodeling or any such thing, and it can help you understand what it's like. Uncertainty is one of the reasons it's so hard to bear. Add uncertainty about the honesty and integrity of the system, and the players in it, and you're in for some real human suffering.

Mix young men, bars and alcohol, add a few girls, and you've got a recipe for trouble, anywhere in the world. Almost all of us have done something stupid when we were part of that scene: if we got through it without the trouble Free has seen, we were just luckier than he was.

I don't know how this is all going to turn out, but I hope he gets through it without having a long prison sentence added to what he's already been through.

In this case, there's no more justice to be had. Free's been punished for anything he did to contribute to the trouble. Ivan appears to have been ready to forgive and forget, perhaps recognizing his own role in creating this unfortunate situation, before the insurance company stepped in to remind him about the conditions of his health insurance policy- interested in nothing about this case except their bottom line.

Solve the money issues, and the case can come to a quick end.

 

Unfortunately this is quite normal in Mexico from what I understand. The verb they use for it is Arraigar, which essentially means to hold someone before they are charged, I think.

The ten INM agents that were arrested in early January are being held for 40 days, according to the papers, while the investigation happens. In their case the amount of time they will be held before being charged has been stated publicly ahead of time. I have no idea is the same situation applies in Free's case, but I've noticed numerous times that people are held here for quite a while before being charged.

 

Hi everyone. Sorry for being MIA.

Here is where we are at with everything. The Ferrats want 800,000 MXN pesos to pay for Ivan's medical bills (500,000) and lost wages (300,000). They said that Free would be released if we paid. The procurador knows and made a verbal acknowledgement of agreement. So basically the Ferrats are holding Free in jail on ransom. We don't want to pay them, but we cannot put a price on Free's life. So, we have begun the fundraising and are trying to get together the money as fast as we can as Free's mother meets with the Ferrats again to try and negotiate the price down.

The insurance won't pay because they know Ivan started the fight and even granted the pardon (which he later took back for this reason). As for the fight, it was actually Juan Adolfo Montiel Franco (son of a former deputy of transportation police) who started the fight and pressed the charges. Yet this guy has fallen off the face of the earth, letting Ivan take the fall.

This whole thing disgusts me and breaks my heart. I just want to be here in the US with Free again so we can more forward and start our life together.

 

That's how they do it. if you don't get offered bail within 6 days of arriving in jail, you are there until you get your charges. There is a hungarian guy in there right now who has been there for 6 years and hasn't been sentenced. Could you imagine if he got a 1 year sentence? That would mean he served 5 extra years.