Updated Jan 23, 2012 - 3:37 pm
United Nations now involved in Jason Puracal case
The United Nations has been asked to determine if a Tacoma man has been wrongly imprisoned in Nicaragua.
A petition has been filed with the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which will decide if Jason Puracal's Aug. 29, 2011 conviction violated international law.
"The reality is that opinions from this UN body, when combined with political pressure, have historically resulted in the release of many such people arbitrarily detained," said international human rights Attorney Jared Genser, with Washington, D.C.-based Perseus Strategies. "Obviously a finding from an independent group at the UN that he's being held in violation of international law carries a lot of weight internationally."
Puracal, 34, is serving 22 years inside La Modelo Prison, a maximum security detention center outside of Nicaragua's capital city of Managua. He was convicted last year of drug trafficking and money laundering. During an interview with KIRO Radio in August, Puracal denied the charges.
"Anybody who's ever met me will tell you what kind of person I am and will tell you that it's not in my nature, I wouldn't be involved with any of the things that I'm accused of," Puracal said. "It's like something out of a movie."
Genser, along with Puracal's family, has asked the United Nations to take "urgent action" in the case, citing "physical abuse and the denial of food, water and proper medical care" inside the prison.
Meanwhile, his case has been accepted for appeal by a three judge appellate panel in Granada, Nicaragua.
Brandi Kruse, 97.3 KIRO FM Reporter
http://mynorthwest.com/11/614990/United ... racal-case
