TheAgitator.com
Free Eric Volz
Thursday, December 20th, 2007You may have seen Volz’s case in the news of late. He’s an American who was wrongly convicted of murdering his girlfriend in a sham trial in Nicaragua. His conviction was recently overturned, but the Nicaraguan government has now decided to keep him jailed indefinitely, anyway. And the Nicaraguan media is out and out encouraging vigilantism.
Volz is apparently a friend of blogger Will Hinton, who has much, much more information on the story.
If anything were to happen to him, there would be justice in his family visiting some American-style vigilantism on the media personalities who are trying to whip up public sentiment to murder an innocent man.
Sounds like the Nicaraguan government has pretty much abdicated any right it once had to not have mercenaries break down the walls of the jail and take this guy home.
I feel for the guy, and I hope he gets out soon. Unfortunately he’s caught in the same legal limbo as many of the Gitmo guys.
Called the White house and left a message, pretty much verbatim from the other blog. I hope it helps.
Dangerman
Breaking News on MSNBC right now: a judge has ordered his release. He will “fly immediately to Atlanta, accomapnied by his mother.”
Let’s hope he makes it to the airport, and this isn’t just an excuse for the Nicaraguan justice system to turn him over to a mob.
What really bothers me about this case is the attitude of many who are commenting on other sites. Nicaragua is painted as a backwards country and many state ‘I am proud to be an American with a fair justice system.’ Ever heard of Leonard Peltier? You should look him up. Was your head in the sand during hurricane Katrina and the Jena 6 case?
Instead of using this unfortunate case to question the status quo we seem to sink right back into our complacency. Many might now feel relief that Eric’s freedom shows again that as American citizens we can travel anywhere and enjoy our form of justice.
This case shows that there is a world imbalance in justice — and it happens here in our own backyard too. Eric’s freedom is only possible today because he is an American citizen. Think of all the Nicaraguans still in jail that are probably falsely accused, just like Eric. And they will probably stay there just because they are Nicaraguan. Eric is free just because he is (a certain kind of) American.
Think of all the people here in jail that are only there because they are not from a powerful family that can help them get out — or don’t have enough media appeal and sympathy to make justice happen for them. Eric was just an ambitious and driven person who wanted to help Nicaragua. He wanted to be ‘the bridge’ between the ex-pat community and Nicaraguan society. This fact got him our sympathy, the media attention necessary and ultimately his freedom — his luck at having this appeal and power had as much to do with his freedom now as his innocence.
I feel like we perpetuate an arrogance when we claim that we are unequivocally better as a society. For the sake of men like Leonard Peltier stop being so complacent in your celebration of our justice system as the yardstick for the rest of the world. Injustice happens here too. And one of the things we truly don’t have any control over is where we are born. People are American or French, Nicaraguan or from the Middle East through no choice of their own. Where is the justice in that? You could have just have easily been born in Nicaragua or on a reservation in South Dakota or in a redlined neighborhood in a major city here– so maybe it is time to start worrying about justice for all our fellow man (and woman — like Doris. She doesn’t have her justice yet and we don’t seem to care. Because she is Nicaraguan).
#7 Amy, I totally disagree with everything you said!! Please speak for yourself and not all of America! And by the way, maybe you think you’re better than others and are the arrogant one..geeze…how dare you lump all of America with you.
I’m so glad Eric is home and safe!