 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
THE CASE OF LUCY LU
Lucy Lu Receives Pardon
November 25, 2004
Lucy Lu receives pardon
‘It's great. I was so relieved,' Lucy Lu says of parole board pardon
By Ian Elliot
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Local News - Lucy Lu has been pardoned by the National Parole Board. Lu, the Chinese immigrant who took sanctuary in Calvary Bible Church in 2000 when the government tried to deport her over a manslaughter conviction of which she maintains she’s innocent, was told Monday that the federal government had granted her a pardon of her conviction. The pardon allows Lu to seek permanent residency in Canada and clears the way for her lawyers to argue that the immigration department’s case to have her deported should be dropped. The immigration case is the only outstanding legal process remaining against the Kingston shoe store clerk, whose plight garnered tremendous support in the city and from around the world. “It’s great,” Lu said yesterday at her workplace. “I was so relieved when I heard that the pardon had been granted. This is a big step for me and I’m thankful for all the support I’ve received from Kingston and around the world.”Lu got the news yesterday afternoon at the nursing home where she volunteers when not working and was thrilled at the decision, which she hadn’t been expecting. She singled out lawyer Michael Mandelcorn, who worked on her pardon application, and MP Peter Milliken in particular for their work on her case. Not only has she been pardoned, but the pardon was issued at break-neck pace, probably because of the large number of influential supporters on her side.
When she was holed up in the church for more than a year, with her new husband, Darryl Gellner, more than 70,000 Canadians signed petitions or sent postcards to the federal government urging that her Canada-wide arrest warrant be revoked. She received support from labour unions, political parties and other organizations that took up her cause as their own. After many delays in getting the documents Lu needed from the federal government, her lawyers filed the pardon application in August, expecting it to take 12 to 18 months, well past the time her minister’s permit allowed her to stay in the country. It took less than three months.
The breakneck pace of the pardon application bodes well for efforts to close the immigration case against her, said lawyer Leslie Morley, who’s handling Lu’s immigration case. “This is way, way, way ahead of schedule,” he said in an interview yesterday. He noted that there is a new immigration minister, new legislation and a new atmosphere in Ottawa and is optimistic about the chances of getting the immigration case closed.
He attributed Lu’s success in getting the pardon to the “awesome” support her case has received, but cautioned most immigrant claimants receive no such level of support. Lu’s case, he said, shows how difficult it is to take on the federal government in a refugee case. “A case like this tends to highlight just how fiercely one has to fight to stay in Canada,” said Morley, noting some middle-aged clients’ immigration cases started when they were babies. “She’s been down a pretty dark hole that most people never get out of unless they get deported and resurface somewhere else.”
Lu was ordered deported in January 1990, a year after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter following the death of her first husband, a crime that means automatic deportation. After several years of legal wrangling, with two mistrials behind her and with little understanding of all of the legal and immigration implications, Lu said she pleaded guilty to manslaughter to bring the ordeal to an end. She spoke little English at the time and claims she was railroaded into a guilty plea and convicted entirely on circumstantial evidence. But the plea, and the resulting 10-year sentence, left her inadmissable to stay in Canada. When immigration officials tried to remove her from the country, the congregation of Calvary Bible Church gave Lu sanctuary in the church while lawyers, politicians and supporters fought to overturn the deportation order. Chinese laws allow execution or lifetime imprisonment of citizens who have committed crimes abroad and members of the church to which Lu belonged and where she was married felt they had a moral obligation to assist her. After 16 months in the church, Lu was granted temporary residency in March 2002 by immigration minister Denis Coderre. Lu was given a minister’s permit that granted a three-year reprieve from deportation.
The stay was granted on the condition Lu seek, and receive, a pardon for her crime from the National Parole Board no later than March. The law prevented Lu from filing a pardon application until her sentence had expired. She has now met the conditions of the minister’s permit and has applied for an extension of the permit allowing her to stay in Canada while she fights the immigration case. Lu’s temporary residency expires next March. Bob Hawkins, the owner of Shalimar Shoes, praised the efforts of Kingstonians for bringing their influence to Lu’s case. Accompanying her pardon application were almost 150 letters from prominent people offering their unconditional support for Lu and he noted the groundswell of support for her when she was in Calvary church.
Mary Cassidy, the warden of Kingston’s Prison For Women at the time Lu was serving her sentence was one of the people who wrote letters in support of Lu’s pardon application. “The support has been overwhelming,” she said. “If I was in trouble I’d want the city of Kingston on my side.”
UPDATE dated
April 1, 2002
Lucy is Free!
Lucy, escorted
by her husband Daryl Gellner, breathes a breath
of Fresh Air after 16 months in sanctuary at the Calvary Bible
Church
Lucy Lu was able to leave the church basement in Kingston, where she has lived in sanctuary for over 16 months! The new Immigration Minister granted her a 3 year stay one day after the local immigration office served notice of rejected of her application to remain in Canada.Further details will be posted in the coming days.
Lucy and her husband Daryll, are deeply appreciative to the members of DAWN Ontario for your diligent support over the last year.
Thank You for making a difference!
How You
Can Help Lucy Lu
Follow this Link to
Postcard campaign
(launched
by Elizabeth Fry Society of Kingston)
TAKE ACTION
PAGE
Media
News of Lucy Lu
Email Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Cabinet Ministers, and your MP to ask for a stay on Lucy Lu's deportation order and a contextualized review of the case to grant her status and citizenship.Express your view that sending Lucy Lu back to China to face persecution and death is a violation of Canada's Human Rights pledges, agreements and policies, and a complete miscarriage of justice.
The email you send from our Friends of Lucy Lu Take Action Page will generate a fax at the government's end. This is called an email to fax service and is of no cost to you... as you simply send an email. However, since the end copy is printed, it is harder to be ignored.
Page Contents & Links
Backgrounder
Letter from Daryl Gellner
Postcard Campaign
Sign an Online Petition
Lucy Lu Website
Sample Letter
Media News of Lucy Lu
The Elizabeth Fry Society of Kingston has launched a (10,000) Postcard Campaign to support Lucy Lu.
DAWN Ontario has a supply of these postcards and we encourage women to email, call us at 705-494-9078, or drop by the office in North Bay if you would like to pick one up (free) to send or to have us send one on your behalf.
We need you name and address to include in the postcard which we can mail on your behalf.
|
On November 21, 2000, Lucy Lu, in a desperate attempt to avoid deportation, took sanctuary inside a small neighborhood church in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Lu, 43, was unjustly convicted of manslaughter for the 1985 death of her first husband in Toronto. Lu maintains that she is innocent and says she pleaded guilty to escape the legal mess she found herself in after the first two trials ended in a hung jury and a mistrial. Since her release from prison in 1991, Lu has been a model citizen and exemplary member of the community. She holds a valid work permit, and has actively volunteered in the community. If forcibly returned to her Chinese homeland, Lu could face a re-trial and the death penalty for a crime we believe she did not commit. Canadian authorities claim they will not forcibly remove Lucy from Calvary Bible Church, but will immediately deport her back to China once she steps off the church's property. Lucy is fortunate in that the Calvary Bible Church family, along with a growing list of friends and supporters, remains firmly behind her. Together with Lucy's second husband, Daryl Gellner, we ask you to support Lucy in her efforts to remain in this country. Lucy has been in Canada for seventeen years. She is married to a Canadian citizen. She works hard and faithfully pays taxes, volunteers in the community and has been a loved and valued member of her church for more than ten years. Moreover, to quote immigration authorities who recently reviewed her case, "[Lucy's] behaviour since her release has been sterling." With these facts in mind, it is puzzling why these same officials want to send Lucy back to China to face misery, torment and a possible sentence of death. The
backgrounder was reprinted from the Lucy
Lu website
Letter from
Daryl Gellner, Lucy's husband: There she faces re-trial for the same crime she has already paid for and if convicted in China faces the death penalty. This is called double jeopardy. A massive effort is underway in Canada to have her case re-opened as there is strong evidence due to an investigative reporter's work to indicate someone else was in fact responsible for the crime. Lucy has always maintained her innocence. In any event, Lucy's story has been covered extensively in the press, television and radio. A documentary is being filmed presently. Over 1000 letters have been sent to Human Rights' groups, church organizations and Women's groups world-wide. The response has been encouraging. Several unions, judges, lawyers, human rights' groups, police officials, politicians including the Speaker of the House of Commons have come out in support of this unfortunate woman. However, when the media asks if any women's groups have responded to Lucy's plight, we must reply "NOT YET". We explain that it may be that it is still in the discussion stage and we expect to hear from some soon. The documentary mentioned is outlining the life of Lucy coming from China, a male dominated society, to Canada in an arranged marriage. After her husband, who during their ten month marriage was away for weeks at a time and engaged in questionable activities, was found murdered, Lucy was charged with the crime. After serving time, 2-1/2 years, and being in Canada a total of 16 years, the Canadian government wants to ship her back to the same male dominated society where, in the mind of this society, she has stepped well outside the traditional role of a woman. It does not take a lot of imagination to understand what will happen to her. We are told by reporters in China who refuse to be identified that Lucy Lu will in all probability be tortured, executed and her body parts sold as an example to her people of what happens when a woman does not stay in her place. If you would
like to know more about the story of Lucy Lu, you can contact: You can also visit Lucy's web site at www.lucylu.net where you will find a link to our Prime Minister and to a petition.
Postcard
Campaign Rt. Hon.
Jean Crétien Dear Prime Minister: I ask you to join the growing list of Canadians requesting that the Minister of Immigration stay the order against Kuei Kuan Lu (also known as Lucy Lu) directing her deportation to the People's Republic of China. You should join us for the following reasons:
Lucy has sought sanctuary, and time is of the essence. Your support is critical Mr. Prime Minister; Please join us. Sincerely, Name: ___________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________ _________________________________________________
Edit
as you wish ... this is only intended as a guide based on the
information we have available. On November
21, 2000, Lucy Lu, in a desperate attempt to avoid deportation,
took sanctuary inside a small neighbourhood church in Kingston,
Ontario, Canada. Lucy Lu, 43, was unjustly convicted of manslaughter
for the 1985 death of her first husband in Toronto. Lucy Lu
maintains that she is innocent and says she pleaded guilty to
escape the legal mess she found herself in after the first two
trials ended in a hung jury and a mistrial. [Your
Name]
|
|
