Fair trials group helping British woman jailed in Dominican Republic
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
LONDON, England: A leading specialist in
securing justice for British citizens imprisoned overseas was due to fly to
the Caribbean Monday to meet a British woman jailed in the Dominican Republic.
The moves comes as 28-year-old Marianne Telfer, who is in custody in a prison
known as "The Fortress", has revealed in a letter to the East Anglian Daily
Times how she is becoming more depressed each day she is held.
Stephen Jakobi, director of British charity Fair Trials Abroad, is making the
trip with Roger Telfer, Ms Telfer’s father.
They will be accompanied by a Cambridge lawyer, Sarah de Mas, who specialises
in cases such as Marianne's.
Marianne was arrested after her boyfriend
Richard Flack, 34, collapsed and died after condoms filled with cocaine burst
inside his stomach. The pair were on holiday
together when Mr Flack died. Ms Telfer has so far spent eight weeks in prison.
Ms Telfer, who insists she is innocent of drug trafficking, faces up to 10
years in jail if convicted. She insists she did not know Mr Flack had
swallowed drugs in an attempt to smuggle them back to the UK, and that she has
become caught up in something she knew nothing about.
Mr Jakobi said he hopes to speak to Ministry of Justice officials and British
embassy and consulate staff to see what can be done to sort out the situation
during his week-long visit. Although Mr
Jakobi said he could not predict how long the case would take, he said: "This
is a simple case. There's not much evidence to find. The evidence is against
her (Ms Telfer's) travelling companion, there's nothing against her.
"I would expect the process to go quickly, with the hearing by the end of May
at the latest." However, Mr Jakobi's previous
involvement with the Dominican Republic was a case involving two legitimate
Dutch jewellers who were accused of money laundering. They were in jail for
two years and are still awaiting trial.
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