I have spoken with many foreigners who are prisoners inside the prison and it is scary to hear some of them talk about there cases. There is one guy there who has been there 2 years and is still waiting for a sentence!
Im sorry to say this, but: Welcome to Mexico. This is what happens when a system is corrupt to the bone. Imagine that the Procuraduria labels robberies, assaults, rapes etc. as "small crimes". Disgusts me to be honest. We have had MANY issues in our park. 3 months ago the young girl who is the administrator got beat up, stabbed and the back of her head opened when the guy bashed her several times against the shelf in her office. Good thing a few of us were home and heard her screams! We ran down, and after some 10 minutes of running we caught the guy. Some of the neighbors took the opportunity and beat him up pretty bad before the cops came some 35 mins later(!!). Even though several neighbors, along with the administrator, identified him and offered to witness in court, he got released 2 days later. He has been back here 3 times already, walking around our building. Now, like we have said: The good thing with Free`s case is that its getting a LOT of attention, not only locally, but around the world. Apparently the majority of Cancunenses are supporting Free, which is always a good start. The reporters(who themselves are familiar with oppression etc.) are standing firmly behind Free. Lets all hope that this will be over soon Then us locals need to work on building the reputation...again.
I sincerely hope this gets the attention and action that is needed to solve this mess. No one wants to ruin Cancun, but Im sure most people here on this forum would react strongly if it was a personal friend/family member/husband/wife etc. who was in the exact same position as Free. I sure as hell would!!
This thread is mainly focused on the case involving Free- the apparent injustice of the charges against him; the efforts being made to free him, pre-trial (or to get the charges dropped, altogether); frustrations with the legal system, here; and, the possible role that political influence and/or corruption may be playing in the unfolding of this case. But, there are other things appearing in this thread that have caught my attention, besides; for example, 1) what may be an effort to segregate prisoners who could pose a danger to each other; 2) the access that foreign prisoners may have to people visiting the detention center; The access allowed the press to the courts and the principals in the case, including the defendant, who was interviewed at length and his interview published in one of the larger dailies, and their apparent freedom to report about the case, coupled with their boldness in suggesting the case was subject to political influence, also get my attention.
At this point I'm just wondering how much more damage will be done to Cancun's and Mexico's reputation before the federal government finally steps in and stops the circus. It's no secret that the "judicial" system in Mexico is a joke. The guilty usually walk while innocent people without connections and power can get caught up in the system and face true hardships. Throw a little political influence in the mix, and this is the result. In the end I expect that Free will be let loose, those who are guilty of all of these related crimes will go unpunished, and life will go on as it always does in Mexico. Free, atleast has the benifit of local and international support among the press and on the street and a video that shows him as the apparent victim. Most others caught in the system don't have such luck.
Anita, can you tell us a little about it came about that you were allowed to speak with the other foreign prisoners, and under what circumstances you met with them? (For example, did you meet with them individually, or in a room with others; did you need special permission, or did it happen because you had come to visit Free, and he was among them.) Were there any limitations on the length of time in which you could meet with them, etc. Just fill us in a little more, please.
Just as some balance here's the story from the other side: freeingfree.com I see they've copied the domain name but with a different extension, presumably to highjack traffic intended for www.freeingfree.net
Seems they've also managed to gather some more video.... of' course there is no way to tell what editing they've done. For example it claims to show Free and his friend as preparing for a fight when they got into the elevator, supposedly before the altercation happened. However it still shows the other guys starting the altercation, so it doesn't change anything in my mind. Regardless of any other circumstances, the accepted rule as I understand it, is whomever makes the first aggressive contact, is by definition the aggressor. You can "talk smack" and be a jerk all night, but, legally I don't see how Free could be charged with anything more than disorderly conduct, assuming that no weapons are involved. I wasn't there, and I don't know anyone involved, perhaps this Free guy is a total jerk, always looking for a fight, but in this case at least, it seems clear that he should not still be in jail over this incident. Even if he were completely at fault that's still is no justification for all of the other things that have happened during this saga. Its a mess. Someone at a higher level needs to step in, deport free, put the kidnappers in prison and wrap things up before the story gets uglier.
Life: You are completely right. The one who "starts" it all is the one who should be #1 responsible. There has been several incidents like this back home, one that got the most attention was a case where 3 guys jumped 2 others. Unfortunately for the attackers, 1 of the victims is one of our most promising Taekwondo athletes. He beat the crap out of 2 of the attackers, but got released while the 3 attackers are all in jail. The video in that case clearly showed that the 3 idiots started the whole thing by punching one of the victims from behind, unprovoked. Lets just say that they got what they deserved - an a*s-whooping and jail-time. This website is interesting and one part that made me laugh out loud is the "profile" of Free: "Ability/skills: Fighting and bothering women" and "Character: Very aggressive". In the video(just as in the shorter version) Free seems to be the one that is pushed down on the ground, then kept being pushed 2 times more until he is out of sight... That is the only "first contact" that we can see and personally, thats more than enough for me personally to hit back with force. Regardless if they look like preparing for a fight, the one who initiates it is always the primarily responsible. Now, Im NOT justifying beating someone to a pulp, but from what we can see, the guys who pushed Free to the ground, then kept pushing him, simply bit of a lot more than they could chew. Example: If I push someone, lets say 3 times, then end up getting my a*s kicked, then I have only myself to blame.
