Eric Volz files petition against Nicaragua

A U.S. citizen who was jailed for thirteen months in Nicaragua has accused the Central American country for trying to reinstate his conviction.

In 2007, Eric Volz was convicted and sentenced to thirty years in prison for the 2006 rape and death of his former girlfriend- Doris Jimenez. His case stirred up plenty of emotions in Nicaragua as critics viewed him as a foreign gringo murderer while his supporters claimed that he was convicted by a kangaroo court. Last year, Volz was freed by an appellate court and has since been in hiding while working on his upcoming memoirs.

Yesterday Volz delivered a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleging that the Nicaraguan government will restore his conviction. In a press release issued by his representatives, Volz accused Nicaraguan officials of trying to exploit him as a political pawn:

“I believe in justice and the word of law,” said Volz. “I lost over a year of my life due to a crime I didn’t commit and the Nicaraguan courts know I didn’t do. What happened to me shouldn’t occur to anyone. Courts exist to protect the innocent which is why I hope the Inter-American Commission takes action.” – [ed. personal translation]

What do you think?

Image- MSNBC
Online Sources- New York Times, NPR, The Latin Americanist, WHNT
E-mailed Source – Press release via Friends of Eric Volz

Eric Volz could be retried for murder

The “Dostoevsky-like” tale of Eric Volz has taken another turn.

Originally from Tennessee, Volz was convicted and sentenced to thirty years in jail for the rape and murder of his former girlfriend in Nicaragua. His case created controversy between supporters including family and friends in the U.S. and detractors who strongly believed he was guilty. Ultimately Volz served fifteen months imprisoned after his conviction was overturned last December.

Volz may soon have to return to jail, however, after Nicaragua’s Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal on his case. Volz could be tried in absentia, a tactic that he views as unconstitutional:

In a YouTube video posted Monday, Volz, 29, said there are two likely outcomes from the Supreme Court review: Either the appeals decision to clear him will be overturned or the justices will order a retrial. Both are unconstitutional given his absence, Volz said.

"Either way, once again I will be a wanted man in Nicaragua," Volz says on the video.

Volz added that the review of his case was due to Nicaragua’s contentious elections. As we noted yesterday, tensions are still high and have included acts of violence.

Image- CNN
Sources- The Latin Americanist, WSMV, The Tennessean, Global Voices Online, NPR

Volz memoir in the works

Eric Volz, the American who was convicted of murdering his Nicaraguan ex-girlfriend in 2007 and then freed earlier this year after serving time in a Nicaraguan prison, has contracted with St. Martin Press in New York to produce his written memoir of his ordeal, according to his website.

Personally, I have remained fascinated by the story -- perhaps because I am roughly his age and work in Central America. Yet there is something Dostoyefsky-like about most all of the elements of the bizarre back-story, from the accounts of his alibi and innocence and the clearly biased trial he underwent to accounts of his personality as a devious expat or as a social entrepreneur working on an eco-tourism magazine that both the leftist Nicaraguan press and the unflinching American support launched over the internet spoke about (on opposite ends) with absolute certainty. In the media hodge-podge that existed around his case, I don't know that anything new or convincing will result from his memoir, and it will apparently follow what appears to be the generally supportive book released last month (The Bridge, by Michael Glasgow).

Still, I am curious to see what sort of tone it takes; since I imagine that such a memoir would offer insight into the mind of the writer, if not unbiased facts on the case (a la OJ's If I Did It). I would also hope that the book focuses on moving forward in the case, and not just Volz's own harrowing Nicaraguan Midnight Express story -- after all, there is still a murderer on the loose in San Juan del Sur.

To me, the more interesting story, regardless of what truth emerges or in which one believes, is the cultural touchstone that his case has come to symbolize in Nicaragua; in newly Sandinista Nicaragua, where anti-Americanism is again on the rise, Volz's name now invokes all things disdainful about American imperialism and exceptionalism.

On both trips I've taken to Nicaragua this year, I have found myself asking taxi drivers if they still talk about Volz's case. "Not too much anymore," they've told me. But once asked if they think he was innocent or guilty, they invariably launch into a soliloquy about foreign privilege, media bias, corrupt courts, small-town ruralism in Nicaragua, and a number of other issues not even so closely connected to his case -- all which goes to show how deeply Eric Volz's case struck at the heart of a country with a lot of open wounds.

Today’s Video: Eric Volz’ prison tape

Last December, Eric Volz was released from a Nicaraguan prison after an appellate court overruled his conviction for murder. His case received much attention in Nicaragua and the U.S.; Volz’ supporters claimed that his conviction was unjust due to a shady judicial process while critics said that he was released due to his status as a U.S. citizen.

Yesterday, the Friends of Eric Volz blog released a brief video of an imprisoned Volz which he supposedly took secretly in January 2007. In the clip, he talks about his time in jail and thanks his supporters for sticking by him.

Sources- The Latin Americanist, YouTube, MSNBC, NPR, Friends of Eric Volz

Daily Headlines: January 12, 2008

* Follow-up: “It was so obvious that I was innocent,” said Eric Volz whose conviction for murder was recently overturned by a Nicaraguan court.

* Can the U.N. help reform Guatemala’s justice system?

* Brazilian health authorities are on high alert over a possible yellow fever outbreak.

* Approximately 700 people were evacuated from the area around the active Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador.

* Immigration into Peru grew by nearly 9% in 2007 according to recently released data.

Sources- Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Latin Americanist, Living in Peru, AFP

Image- MSNBC

Daily Headlines: December 27, 2007

* Rescuers found a 12-year-old girl who survived for over two days in the Panamanian jungle after a plane crash killed her family.

* Colombia’s newest tourist attraction opened yesterday: a theme park built on the former estate of dead drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

* Fidel Castro’s health continues to improve according to a speech by his brother, Cuban president Raul Castro.

* Follow-up: Nicaragua’s Supreme Court has started an investigation against the judges who overturned the conviction against Eric Volz.

Sources- Independent Online Edition, CNN, Guardian UK, The Latin Americanist, Associated Press

Image- ABC News (“Francesca Lewis, 12, is carried on a stretcher after being rescued from the jungle in the town of David, west of Panama City, Dec. 26, 2007. Francesca was found Tuesday walking near the wreckage of the plane in the 3,500-feet (1,067-meter) high, jungle-laden flanks of the Baru. (Arnulfo Franco/AP Photo)”)

Eric Volz to be freed

A U.S. citizen who had been convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend had his verdict overturned by a Nicaraguan court yesterday.

Eric Volz had been sentenced to 30 years in jail in 2006 though his defense claimed that he was two hours away when the crime occurred and ten witnesses testified in his favor. Volz' conviction was based on a single eyewitness account as well as some circumstantial evidence.

Nicaragua’s Attorney General told the local press that he would appeal the court’s ruling which would eventually allow Volz to walk free from prison.

Earlier today, Volz’ mother expressed worry about her son’s safety and criticized the Nicaraguan press for “taking justice into their own hands.” She may have a point based on the rhetoric from this article in one Nicaraguan daily:

Volz’ family wasted economic resources on private armed bodyguards during the trial and then with programs on U.S. TV channels that insulted the Nicaraguan justice system…

It’s worth clarifying the manipulation by the appellate judges with the scene of the crime…According to expert testimony, the amount of blood found on the seen of the crime was caused by the heinous manner in which Volz and Chamorro murdered the young girl. - [ed. personal translation]

Sources (English)- Associated Press, CNN, Tennessean.com, Tico Times

Sources (Spanish)- ElNuevoDiario.com.ni

Image- nicatimes.net