Sunday, February 7, 2010

Does Mexico owe appropriate compensation to Indian for false imprisonment?

MEXICO CITY – An Indian market vendor who was wrongly convicted of kidnapping and spent three years in prison deserves compensation for the time she was locked away, Amnesty International said Thursday.





';Nothing will replace the three years she lost, but it is vital that those responsible for this injustice be brought before justice, and that she receive an appropriate compensation,'; said Kerrie Howard, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Americas.





Jacinta Francisco Marcial, whose kidnapping conviction sparked an international protest, walked out of prison Wednesday after authorities decided not to contest an appeal of her 21-year sentence.





Mexico's Indians, many of whom don't speak Spanish, have a right to translators in legal proceedings under current law, but none was apparently provided to Marcial, an Otomi Indian, during the initial stages of her trial.





';I didn't even know what kidnapping was,'; Marcial, 46, told reporters Thursday, speaking in a Spanish that she largely learned while in prison. ';I couldn't stop crying.';





Her lawyer Andres Diaz, who works with the Mexico-based Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez human rights center, said her legal team is considering bringing legal action against the government. Activists said her case was symbolic of the poor treatment meted out to Mexico's 6 million speakers of indigenous languages.





Amnesty International is demanding new trials for two other women convicted in the 2006 case, which began when federal agents raided a street market in the central state of Queretaro to confiscate pirated goods. During the incident, angry vendors surrounded the agents and briefly held them hostage, demanding to be paid for the loss of their merchandise. Marcial denied she played any role in detaining the agents.





The Attorney General's Office has said a review of her case turned up ';contradictions in the statements of federal agents.';





';From the evidence it is clear that some witnesses said they saw the defendant at the scene, others say they did not see her ... creating a reasonable doubt about her involvement,'; the office said in a statement. The statement said there was strong evidence against two other convicted women.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090917/ap_o…Does Mexico owe appropriate compensation to Indian for false imprisonment?
When an illegal encounters those kind of problems here, Mexico demands swift action and when it happens in Mexico , Mexico is not held to any standard.Take for example,Mexico's Indians, many of whom don't speak Spanish, have a right to translators in legal proceedings under current law, but none was apparently provided to Marcial, an Otomi Indian, during the initial stages of her trial.


Imagine the outrage if America did not furnish Mexicans right to translators in legal proceedings under current law, but none was apparently provided , I believe we would see Mexico demanding action and sending lawyers, filing lawsuits demanding justiceDoes Mexico owe appropriate compensation to Indian for false imprisonment?
She's a thief and probably a liar. Why presume innocence? So let her loose and it's ';time served'; for theft. What's next, gypsies claiming they don't know what pick-pocketing is?
No. What does this have to do with immigration?

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