Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Mat Forand On Death Row

Stranded on Death Row
And now I'm servin a lifetime sentence
There'll be no repentence
Since it's the life that I choose to lead
I plead guilty
On all counts let the ball bounce where it may
--Lady of Rage

Mat Forand is in deep....still. Here's some background right here...
B.C. drug trafficker faces possible death sentence
Last Updated Wed, 15 Feb 2006 17:59:31 EST
CBC News

A B.C. man who went to Taiwan to teach English is in jail and facing a possible death sentence after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges.

Mathieu Forand, of Port Moody, was arrested last August by the Taiwanese Coast Guard after they found cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy pills in hollowed-out English textbooks.

The authorities allege the 28-year-old Forand is the leader of a ring of English teachers smuggling drugs into Taiwan.

Friends have said Forand had been teaching in Taiwan for several years.

They said the prosecution was pushing for the death penalty or 25 years in prison while Forand's lawyer was arguing for a sentence of 10 to 15 years.

For drugs? This is just further evidence of a growing anti-foreigner/nationalism prevalent in certain areas of the Far East.

In some cases, I can't blame them. In Thailand (ok, southeast Asia), native Thais aren't allowed on some of the nicest beaches. In Japan, Americans (sorry, it's true) are notorious for pissing off everybody and their dog, their sensei, and their ancestors.

Anyways, I guess all we can do is keep watch.

3 comments:

Michael Turton said...

Not really. Let me introduce you to the other side: lots of us long-term expats were peeved at Forand. It's just the kind of shit that makes trouble for everyone. Taiwanese are pretty good about foreigners, but idiots who blatantly violate laws like Forand did may trigger crackdowns or stricter laws that will hurt everyone. Naturally I don't support the death penalty and consider dope use a private matter, but there isn't much sympathy for him in the expat community.

This is NOT an example of nationalism, but simply some clueless idjit ruining his life trying to make a quick buck.

Shamrocks! said...

Uh, actually I was part of the expat community in Japan and yeah, Mat shouldn't have been running drugs, but...

The death penalty?

Not much sympathy in expat community, eh? It doesn't make you nervous that he was targeted? That his native friends got off with a slap on the wrist? That he was forced to sign confessions before seeing a lawyer...

All above board, I'm sure.

Michael Turton said...

Not much sympathy in expat community, eh? It doesn't make you nervous that he was targeted? That his native friends got off with a slap on the wrist? That he was forced to sign confessions before seeing a lawyer...

His native friends cut deals to sell him out (how do you think he was found?) and that's why he wasn't punished. He was targeted because he was selling drugs and did not have the usual gang connections and links to the police to protect his activity (because he was a foreigner without any of those things, probably not even aware he had to have them). He was freelancing in someone else's territory -- Forand was lucky he was only arrested and imprisoned, and not beaten to death by the people whose business he was poaching. Of course he was made to sign a confession before seeing a lawyer, that is not unusual here for both foreign and local criminals. Note that I am not defending the system, I am just pointing out that he is not getting unusual treatment.

He won't get death, but he will get 15. You haven't really caught the real issue -- the problem is that he wasn't American. There's a widespread perception that Americans get more breaks here than westerners of other nationalities. If you look at POTS on my blog sidebar, their last issue is about the poor prisoners in the foreign prison in Taipei, and some make just that complaint.

Michael