Surrounded by policemen, hiding behind shields.
A woman of courage, waits for a glimpse of her beloved.
She cheers him on when she sees him.
Her only defence is the love of her family.
Gathering closer round her,
Like a woollen shawl in winter.
Then he is gone away, led away for another day.
Too much time spent in prison
Waiting to speak his truth.
Too little time in the court,
There never seems to be time to be heard
But despite the odds there is a love
That grows stronger, that never falters.
That digs deep and finds the hope to go on.
A love that endures the trials and tribulations.
One day Mark will walk towards his beloved
As a free man.
But the waiting is just so hard.
Sometimes freedom
Seems a long way off...
Innocent until proven guilty
Sounds like a joke.
More like guilty
'till proven innocent
But then you're not given the chance.
But despite the odds there is a love
That grows stronger, that never falters.
That digs deep and finds the hope to go on.
A love that endures the trials and tribulations.
Julie loves Mark
Mark loves Julie
When will he be free?
Julie loves Mark,
Mark loves Julie,
When will he be free?
But the waiting is just so hard,
Freedom seems such a long way off...
What's the story?
This Friday on June 6, Mark Marku's appeal in Crete will continue. It was adjourned a few weeks ago. So far it is not going well. Already in prison for nearly 4 years, Mark has yet to have a fair trial and present evidence that proves his innocence.
Mark has a wonderful team of lawyers including representatives from the Irish Innocence Project who have taken on his case. The problem is Mark's appeal date has already been moved 5 times. Most recently it was postponed last December on a technicality on the very day it was meant to be heard. Mark and his Irish wife Julie are very afraid that this could happen again.
Every time the appeal is delayed, it means Mark spends longer in prison and the legal fees and expenses are racking up. For example the last attempted appeal cost €15,000. Mark has spent the last 4 years in prison while Julie and her parents have spent their life savings trying to exonerate him. More importantly Mark and Julie’s lives as newly weds have been devastated by this nightmare.
Mark has been in custody in Greece since the 16th of September 2010 and in January 2012 was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for allegedly being involved in a spate of armed robberies of jewellers in Crete in 2010. Mark was living in Ireland with his Irish wife Julie when several of these robberies took place. He has an abundance of documentary evidence to prove his innocence, all of which has been verified by independent sources and the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, however the evidence was dismissed at his original trial as forgeries.
Mark was prosecuted based on a line-up with eye witnesses who confirmed that all the raiders wore masks. Mark is of average build and height and has no unusual features to identify him. The prosecution failed to produce any evidence for 11 of the 16 charges brought against him in the original trial and yet he was convicted to 18 years.
Every time the appeal is delayed, it means Mark spends longer in prison and the legal fees and expenses are racking up. For example the last attempted appeal cost €15,000. Mark has spent the last 4 years in prison while Julie and her parents have spent their life savings trying to exonerate him. More importantly Mark and Julie’s lives as newly weds have been devastated by this nightmare.
Mark has been in custody in Greece since the 16th of September 2010 and in January 2012 was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for allegedly being involved in a spate of armed robberies of jewellers in Crete in 2010. Mark was living in Ireland with his Irish wife Julie when several of these robberies took place. He has an abundance of documentary evidence to prove his innocence, all of which has been verified by independent sources and the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, however the evidence was dismissed at his original trial as forgeries.
Mark was prosecuted based on a line-up with eye witnesses who confirmed that all the raiders wore masks. Mark is of average build and height and has no unusual features to identify him. The prosecution failed to produce any evidence for 11 of the 16 charges brought against him in the original trial and yet he was convicted to 18 years.
Most recently the appeal started on Monday 12 May 2014 and I was really hopeful that everything would work out this time for Mark and his Irish wife Julie. I can't believe I was so naive!
Why? Scenes in the courtroom were described as chaotic with a lot of racist remarks from the prosecution witness's and gallery. Then the glove which allegedly had Mark's DNA has been analysed by forensic expert Dr. Greg Hampikian from the U.S. and proves it is not actually Mark’s. However when finally Dr. Hampikian got to present his DNA evidence (on his second trip to Greece to attempt to do so) , the judge decided that actually the defence lawyer could only ask him one question! This lead to the lawyer arguing that this was not fair and the judge suspending proceedings for the day. With the appeal fast becoming a farce and Mark not getting a fair hearing, the lawyers asked for another judge. This was denied and the next day the case was deferred until 6 June 2014.
So now everything is up in the air again. Just because you might be innocent in Greece, if you are Albanian it seems that you may not be able to get a fair trial and will remain in prison while your appeal is deferred and deferred in the hope that maybe you will give up and or will eventually not be able to afford to keep going. Every time the case is adjourned it costs thousands of euros. Meanwhile Mark is in a cell with 3 other men for 23 hours a day!
I created an Avaaz community petition to ask the Greek authorities to ensure Mark's trial goes ahead this time and that he gets a fair trial. This is the link
This petition is really important because the Greek authorities really need to know that the world is watching and that there is international interest in Mark’s case. It is clear that as well as needing the appeal to go ahead without further delays, Mark desperately needs a fair hearing where he is allowed to present all the evidence that points to his innocence.
Julie is my friend and she has been through so much. Please sign the petition and share it with everyone you know.
Please like the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/justiceformarkandandreas?fref=ts to get updates on the case and you can leave a message of support here too if you like.
For further information go the website http://www.justiceformarkandandreas.com/
Many thanks
Claire Marie
