Free Harry Bout
Dutchman wrongly convicted in Michigan
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Who is Harry Bout?
Harry Bout is a Dutchman who has been wrongfully imprisoned in the USA since 1985.
He was arrested together with the actual murderer, who entered a plea-bargain, giving her a way out, while the lay-out of the crime-scene was altered by police in a way that Harry would seem the murderer. This amounts to perjury by police (and prosecutor). A witness was threatened by police to tell lies at the original case, and the Vienna Convention was violated by the United States, in which Harry should have been able to notify his consulate immediately on arrest. Harry has always kept his Dutch nationality. He speaks and understands Dutch.
We want the Dutch government to bring Harry home to the Netherlands, if the US courts do not give him a new fair trial.
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Harry's false imprisonment has been going on for
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We also want to notify the public of the living conditions Harry has been forced to live in.
We have a Trustfund to have Harry's future court costs paid.
Also we need to help pay to keep Harry healthy: money for hygiene products and some extra food and for charges for medical care are needed to help keep him healthy. Harry also needs money for his correspondence and actionmailings.
For the cost of a law suit in The Netherlands in order to have the Dutch Department of Justice cooperate
in tansferring Harry back to The Netherlands, we need funds. At the moment, we need 1500 Euros in case the case is lost.
Harry needs support, prayers, money, good wishes. Harry's address for mail, encouragement,
prayers and donations (in the form of a US money order) for his daily needs:
Harry Bout, 180741
Boyer Road/Carson City Correctional Facilities
P.O. Box 5000,
Carson City, MI 48811-5000
U.S.A.
Email
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Life in Prison
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Harry Bout is serving life in prison without possibility of parole. Under Michigan law, that means he can never be released from prison, without an order of commutation signed personally by the Governor of Michigan. No one convicted of first degree murder in Michigan has received a commutation in decades. Without court intervention in his favor, he will certainly die in prison.
Life in a Michigan prison can be harsh. For example, for over 8 years Harry resided in the Alger Maximum Correctional Facility in Munising, Michigan. For years he rarely was permitted to leave his one-man cell, usually staying 23 or 24 hours inside. As he was unable to leave his cell, he was unable to earn the few cents a day that prisoners can earn on prison work assignments. When he did leave his cell, he was in handcuffs, belly chains, and leg irons. Yet, he was never accused of committing any violent acts while in prison. At 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) and 125 pounds (57 kg) he seems an unlikely candidate for such treatment.
Carson City Correctional Facilities
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The Alger prison is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a remote and thinly populated area. It is over 340 miles (almost 550 kilometers) from Grand Rapids, and further from the state's main source of prisoners, Detroit. If a prisoner is lucky enough to get a visitor to come so far, he gets a non-contact visit. In other words, while fully shackled hand, waist and foot, the prisoner talks to his visitor from the other side of a security glass barrier. Unfortunately, Harry's mother Marianne is elderly and in poor health and unable to face 600 miles by car.
This required Harry to communicate by letter and by phone. However, Harry was not allowed to use the phone, except that he could sometimes call back if his attorney or the Dutch Consulate called for him. He could not call his mother. That left letters.
[Update: Marianne passed away in 2005, and will never see her son freed. Harry was not allowed to attend her funeral.]
Harry had filed lawsuits against the Department of Corrections and various officials, largely unsuccessful. As a losing party, Harry was ordered by the courts to be responsible for various court costs. He owes almost $6,000 in court costs. That means that Harry cannot buy stamps. It also means that he cannot buy soap, toothpaste, shampoo, and the other little things that many prisoners are allowed to buy to make their lives a little less awful. If someone sends him money, the Department of Corrections, acting under court order, will seize it until the state has been paid. That leaves him largely dependent on the charity of other prisoners, an uncertain prospect at best in light of the fact that the other prisoners have their own problems.
After almost 9 years in these conditions, his attorney called the Alger prison to inform them that a Dutch television newsman, Twan Huijs, wanted to come and interview Mr. Bout. Two days later, Mr. Bout was on a bus, transferred to the Carson City Correctional Facility, in central Michigan. In his interview with Mr. Huijs, he was elated. "You don't know what it means to me to be out of my cell without handcuffs on," he beamed, as he rubbed his wrists.
However, the court orders against him still remain. Therefore, it is Harry's request that if anyone wants to help, that they send a contribution to him at the prison, no matter how small. Please understand that Harry will not get the money. It will be taken to satisfy the court imposed debt. However, once $6,000 is received, Harry Bout will rise in status to being an ordinary prisoner serving life in prison without possibility of parole.
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FFUP Defense Fund
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I appreciate any assistance that you can provide to help prove my innocence and return home. I also appreciate any assistance, ideas or advise, to bring attention to my website information.
Sincerely yours,
Harry Bout
Please send any contributions to:
FFUP Defense Fund
PO Box 285,
Richland Center, WI 53581
For Harry Bout
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Harry Bout Information & Links
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Here you can find the articles about Harry Bout's case and more information about Harry,
presented by his Supportgroup. Some of the information is in Dutch, some of it is in English.
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