November 10, 2007
Day #354 of Eric's imprisonment

We are now in November, the month Doris was senselessly murdered, as well as the start of Eric's unjust arrest and imprisonment. We are only a few weeks shy of marking one full year of this insane experience.

As of this writing there is still no official word from the Appellate Court in Granada, Nicaragua regarding the progress of Eric's appeal. The appeal was filed (within the 6 day period required by law) after Eric's sentencing, February 21. It is unconscionable that the review of this case, with its clarity of evidence, would be held this long.

Recently, Eric was sent to a police hospital for medical tests for the multiple symptoms he has been suffering. As you may recall from previous updates, his health has been a constant source of concern. He has suffered multiple asthma attacks, severe allergic reactions, and upper and lower gastro-intestinal problems, including a kidney stone, internal hemorrhages, and erosion of his stomach lining. Extensive testing has been done (at the family's expense) to determine the best available treatment.

Even though he is receiving long overdue medical attention, Eric's rights continue to be violated by prison authorities. His visits have been suspended, including his attorney (even members of the US Embassy Consular staff have had their regular visits curtailed), his phone time has been reduced to a 10-minute call once/week, and external food supplies to supplement the meager meals in the hospital have been denied.

Eric is still able to receive the messages you send. He asked that we include excerpts from a recent letter he was able to send out. Please continue to write him as often as possible.

For those of you who have been closely following this story, I know long gaps between updates are frustrating, but know that it is for reasons of safety and delicacy of the situation. As I mentioned before, these updates are monitored, reviewed and reported by certain authorities here that have (and could further) complicate things. In addition, the penitentiary has recently put me under heavy surveillance, making it hard to write and actually get letters out.

First off, at the moment I am not in prison, I am in the hospital. My body has taken quite a beating from the conditions I've been living in and the food I've been living on. Here is a summary of the illnesses I've experienced since being locked-up. I tested positive for Giardia and intestinal parasites (which was cured but I probably have again since that was five months ago and I went right back to the same water). I was diagnosed with stomach ulcers by the prison doctor who put me on heavy meds. After two weeks, I wasn't feeling better, so a private specialist came to see me and discovered it wasn't ulcers but gastritis. He believes the ulcer meds could have worsened the gastritis. I've had two bladder infections and frequent inflammation of the colon (still waiting on test results for that). They just found a kidney stone in my right kidney. I guess it's a small stone but it becomes dislodged I'm screwed. I've had my 1st asthma attacks in 10 years. Tests have revealed damage to my small bronchioles most likely caused by the toxic smoke from cardboard and plastic cooking fires in the prison. The same smoke caused a sinus infection that evolved into walking pneumonia. I was sick for three months and still have not fully recovered my sense of smell. In my early months in prison I got some fungus on the palm of my hands (I think from the pull-up bar) that created water pockets under the skin, then the skin peeled off leaving open sores (click here for photo). I experience sporadic insomnia that lasts a couple of days at a time and who knows what other kind of trauma that won't be noticeable until I'm back in the free world. I also have some really frustrating muscle and nerve issues that seem to be physical manifestations of stress.

They have done their best to make the hospital as stressful and prison-like as possible. It's almost more pressure than in jail (great for healing, huh). My family didn't hear from me for the first 12 days. Now I'm allowed a 10-15 minute call once a week (the phone is literally right outside my door). They won't even allow my attorney to bring me a hot meal because they want me to have to eat the disgusting hospital food (prison patients get "different" food than normal patients - most of the time it's not even edible, not to mention sketchy for security reasons). I was without soap, toothpaste or shampoo for two weeks because they wouldn't let me call someone to let them know I needed provisions. They have made it almost impossible for my attorney to see me and they are even playing with the Embassy officials that come to check in. The guards have orders to discourage the nurses from talking to me which has made them all nervous and basically scared to attend to me (who knows what they told them, but it's definitely affected their ability to give me the needed medical attention). They often don't even bring me my medicine because they are intimidated by the guard's AK-47. The guards even started tying a rope to the outside door handle at night, anchoring it to a piece of furniture (kind of sketchy if there was a fire or something and I needed to get out of the room). They are not letting me go out for fresh air, either.

I have left the small room only twice in the last 15 days. The worst part is the room has no natural light. It only has this nasty old school florescent bulb that gives you an instant headache, so I literally stay in the dark all day. The room is pretty shabby, too, so it has not been a relaxing time in the hospital suited for healing. Instead, it has been some of the most hard core solitary confinement yet. [the only good things are: a real toilet, running water shower, no toxic cooking fires or crack smoke, lots of silence and no flies.]

With regard to my other struggle with the judicial branch and a frozen appeal process, there is no news as to when a verdict will be announced. An article was released in the first days of September in a national newspaper in which the president of the 3 judge panel overseeing my appeal states that it would be in 4-5 weeks, which would have been the 1st week in October. Today is October 31. I have lost count of the delays and time has become a void, although I know it's a couple of weeks away from completing an entire year since Doris' death.

I want to thank all of those who have continued to show support in the many different ways you all do. As I have said before this is not my story. This is OUR STORY! Many people have been greatly affected and are emotionally invested in a way that has them in prison alongside me. Thank you all for the many prayers and ceremonies. They have been answered in ways I will never be able to describe. I do receive all the letters sent through the web site and they are awesome. Thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to write them and spread the word about OUR fight for freedom. I have tremendous love and compassion for the network that has emerged. I can't wait for the day to be able to show it outside of these letters.

May each one of you be blessed with God's love,
Free Eric V.

p.s. Below I offer some short answers to a few frequently asked questions (some of which are related to the topic of this letter) that have been sent in letters through the web site.

A very popular question among people who are not convinced of my innocence:

Q: Will you submit to a lie detector test?
A: Absolutely! In fact, in the early stages of the investigation when Armando Llanes, Julio Chamorro, Nelson Danglas & I were all accused together, my defense suggested this to the cops. When the cops told us they didn't have the technology, I offered to pay for a forensic specialist to come with the equipment from Costa Rica (which was the nearest lab with such technology). The cops refused and, if I remember correctly, the District Attorney wasn't interested.

Q: What's the hardest part about prison?
A: The hardest part is not about being locked-up. It's not the loss of physical freedom. For me it's been all the evil that I'm surrounded by. Prison is like the waiting room to hell – the whole place is dominated by a real dark energy. It's when the guards cut your visit with your Mom short by 20 minutes, who you haven't seen in 6 months. It's when they come into you cell at night and tear everything up on a search just to be assholes. It's when you constantly have to play social chess with the prison population to keep from getting hurt. It all gets old and managing the stress and anger is what you have to master in order to keep from going off the edge.

Q: Everyone asks me if I'm going to write a book?
A: How can I not! I feel pregnant with this story and feel a responsibility to share the 95% of it that has not yet been told. At this point I have just focused on journaling as much detail of everyday and messed around with a sample of ideas for a memoir.

In light of the upcoming 1-year anniversary of Doris' death and Eric's arrest, we ask that you again petition your congresspersons on Eric's behalf. We need the government to be responsive to our demands for action, not just their "monitoring the situation." Eric's life still hangs in the balance and we need your support.

We would also ask that you continue to write Eric. Tell others about his situation and ask them to write both Eric and their congresspersons. Your support is vital!

A form letter to send to congresspersons is posted on the Friends of Eric Volz website under the "Support" link.

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