Dates (not yummy dates!)

We now have a date for the psychiatric evaluation. It is Monday 6th July 2009.

If you are able to pray, please do. This evaluation in whatever form it is produced will assist the judge in making his final decision about the length of time Steven has to serve. We have no idea what the report needs to say for it to be positive, but we simply ask that Gods will be done.

Also, we are desperately sorting a translator which should be appointed by the court. We learnt that the last translator appointed by the court never turned up to the evaluation and that is why it never took place. We have soken to the FCO and the Honorary Consul in Managua and have asked them to put pressure on the court to ensure the translator is indeed appointed and turns up. This is something we will continue to follow up a few times up to the appointment on the 6th.

If you wish to help financially please do get in touch with us at brendaquinn@hotmail.com - we are currentlty raising money to help Steven pay for a flight back to the UK, pay for a new passport (old one has been lost by the Nicaraguan authorities) and support him with food whilst he is still in prison.

Thank you for your prayers.

Presure Presure everywhere

Steve is a little upset as he has been robbed and his cell mate did nothing to stop it. Tension in the gallery (wing) is high as there are no cigarettes to go around. Times like this lead people to do silly things and so the US$15 Steve had stashed has been stolen. Pressure is building. He is not a happy man at the moment, but sees the wisdom in just closing the door to his cell and keeping his head down. It's hard especially when Steve knows there is nothing he can do, he is a white man in a Nicaraguan prison which means he is always a step below, always considered less of an inmate than the rest, racism is rife when tension scratches the surface.

It seems the pressure we have placed on the FCO has also had an effect as Steven was contacted on Friday and asked how they could help him further. It seems having an interested party in the UK causes people to move forward. The FCO contacted me on Friday to see how they can better the service they are providing to Steven, so this is all very positive. Positive pressure.

It seems pressure is positive and negative all at the same time. We do have other money coming to Steven soon which has been donated by interested parties. So we thankthose who have donated so we can help the guy.

Thank you.

Lost in Translation

The hearing in Managua never took place yesterday. At Stevens last hearing in court he was asked to undergo a psychiatric evaluation which he was happy to do. However, in order for the evaluation to take place there would need to be a translator in place. Steven had requested from the Honorary Consul in Managua that a translator be provided, however this was not forthcoming.

So, in time honoured Nicaraguan style, they took him to the hospital anyway, without a translator only to be told that the doctor would not provide a report becuase there was no translator present. So a report was never produced, hence the court did not want to see him without being able to review a report.

Libby (our friend in Managua) has agreed to be Stevens translator and has been approved by the court. So we are now awaiting a second date to visit the hospital and then another date for the report to be reviewed in court.

Yet again the system has fallen over and it is typical of things in Nicaragua unless there is someone out there following every last step and making sure that nothing is missed. Since we are not there we can only do this from here.

We have written to the FCO and requested a statement confirming why a translator was not provided and we have requested that they provide to us as a matter of urgency the dates for the psychiatric assessment and hearing.

Of course, we shall let you know........

Back in Court

I have spoken to Steven tonight and he is yet again is very good spirits, by all acounts he is the best I have ever known him to be. He is due in court again at 8am on Thursday 18th June for his final hearing. This hearing was due to examine a psychiatric report, however, when he was taken to the hospital for the assessment the doctor was not there, hence no report was undertaken, therefore he has nothing new to present to court on Thursday. We can not allow this to hold us back and we are praying that the judge sees fit to simply release Steven.

Failing that there could be a further reduction in his sentence which currently, and this is only an guesstimate, he is due to be released on the 5th May 2011.

We are simply praying that Gods will be done!

If you can pray for this I feel this is the most powerful thing we can do and we must trust in God.

The money that we have been giving to Steven has allowed him to buy some new trainers and some new trousers, things he has not been able to get for some time. So we thank God that we have the money to give and we hope that this is providing Steven with a great basis for him to start managing his finances and developing a good way of surviving in prison.

I am due to speak to Steven again tommorow evening to find out how the court appearance went. From there we can make some further decisions as to how best to proceed.

I shall let you all know how this goes.

Many thanks to all who have supported Steven through prayer and financially.