Monday, February 26, 2007

Call to Arms

[speedy recap: Eric Volz, son of my friend Maggie Anthony, has been tried and falsely convicted of the murder of his ex-girlfriend in Nicaragua. There are multiple eyewitness accounts of his whereabouts at the time of the murder as well as phone records, and no legitimate evidence was presented at his trial. The people of Nicaragua have been completely lied to by the press and the victim's mother, and their misguided hatred of Eric has turned them into a lynch mob on several occasions. His life is in great danger in prison. He's been sentenced to 30 years, but an appeal is in process.]

I contacted Eric Volz' dad last week to ask him if it's ok to try and bring Eric's situation to the attention of US media. He said to go ahead - initially they were reluctant to contact the media for fear of negative press that might anger the Nicaraguan people... but now Eric's life in prison is so perilous that it couldn't get worse.

So I appeal to all readers of this blog - if you know someone, anyone in the American media, please contact them and ask them to look into this story. The main website has specific details of all facts of the case (which have been almost completely overlooked in the handful of actual news stories on the case in the US) and the family is more than happy to share all information, affidavits, etc. proving his innocence.

Injustice in any form is the most horrible thing in the world to me - I can deal with terminal illness, and random violence... but the deliberate, politically motivated crucifixion of an innocent man whose only crime is that he is American, troubles and depresses me like nothing else. Please, contact your elected representatives, local media... anyone who is in a position to do something about this.

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