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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2008 
Canadian Jailed in Mexico Placed on Suicide Watch
 Charles Rusnell - The Edmonton Journal
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A Canadian woman jailed in Mexico for two years without trial has been placed on suicide watch by prison authorities.
Supporters of Brenda Martin say they have been informed by Canadian consular officials in Guadalajara that the mental state of the former Trenton, Ont., native has seriously deteriorated in the past week.
Martin, 51, weighs just 90 lbs. and is clearly suicidal, according to a former Toronto psychotherapist who visited her this week after learning about her case on the Internet.
"She is very depressed, she is suicidal, she is pretty well at the end of her rope," Dr. Corrinne Allyson said in an interview from Guadalajara, where she now lives.
Jail authorities had previously declined to allow Allyson more than a 20-minute visit with Martin, but relented earlier this week after they grew concerned she may kill herself.
Allyson said Martin is despondent and cries uncontrollably. Martin's precarious mental state has worsened because she is terrified the Mexican courts will again renege on a promise to provide a decision on her legal case this week.
Martin was a chef in Puerto Vallarta for former Edmontonian Alyn Waage for 10 months in 2001. Waage told people he was a successful investor but was actually operating what is believed to be the largest Internet-based fraud in history. He is now serving a 10-year sentence in an American prison.
Five years after Waage was arrested, Martin was grabbed off the street in Puerto Vallarta by Mexican police. She was charged with money laundering and being part of a criminal conspiracy.
Martin has always professed her innocence and Waage swore an affidavit saying she had no knowledge of or involvement in his scheme.
On Jan. 7, Martin's lawyer, Guillermo Cruz Rico of Toronto, applied to the court to have the charges against Martin thrown out because her legal and human rights had been breached under both Mexican and international law.
Under pressure from the Canadian government, Mexican authorities promised a decision on the legal challenge would be issued no later than March 7, which is Friday. But Martin, in an interview from prison Tuesday, said she has been told the decision may be delayed. She no longer believes the Mexicans will ever release her and said she would rather kill herself than continue living in a prison she called "this godforsaken hellhole."
crusnell(at)thejournal.canwest.com |
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