I heard Dr. Stacey Addison’s plight during a flight this past weekend. I personally do not know Dr. Addison nor do I know of those trying to assist her. I am reposting much of the Petition – Free Dr. Addison! website and a Facebook page. Even CNN picked Addison’s plight as well.
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Dr. Stacey Addison, a Portland, Oregon veterinarian is unjustly imprisoned in the South East Asian country of East Timor. While living her dream of an around the world trip Dr. Addison had the extremely bad luck to share a hired vehicle with a stranger who committed a crime. She has been imprisoned, denied due process and can be held with no charge against her for one year. Our government and the government of East Timor must take action immediately to release Dr. Stacey Addison from her illegal imprisonment.
Stacey planned and saved for two years for her dream trip around the world. What should have been a trip of a lifetime has turned into a nightmare. On September 5th Stacey entered East Timor because her Indonesian visa was expiring and to tour the country. She took a shared hired taxi ( a common practice in developing countries) from the border to the capitol city of Dili. The other passenger, a stranger to her, asked the driver to stop so he could pick up a package. The police had been tipped that the package contained illegal drugs and surrounded the car and arrested everyone. Stacey, her belongings and Ipad were searched and she was given a drug test, all of which were negative.
Both the stranger who picked up the package and the driver testified that they did not know Dr. Addison. Still, she was held in jail for 5 days prior to being taken before a judge. At that time she was given a conditional release but told that her passport could be held for up to one year pending investigation. Stacey asked to be questioned and cooperated in any way she could. She obtained a local attorney. She was never even contacted by authorities in nearly 2 months and yet on October 28th she was rearrested without a charge and taken to Gleno women’s prison. She was told that the prosecutor had filed an appeal to have her conditional release rescinded without notifying Stacey or her lawyer. This is a violation of her Human Rights and illegal under Timorese and International law.
Stacey is a dedicated and caring veterinarian. Her passions are travel and animals and she has volunteered as a vet both in Peru and Ecuador during her around the world trip. She has never been in any sort of trouble in her life.
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Please feel free to review Dr. Addison’s information and sign the petition if so inclined. Also, pass the links on to those who may support her.