📸 Photo

MY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER

other side of the courtroom with their lawyers and family. We all stood when the three judges came in. Immediately, Rusty stood up and introduced himself as an international human rights lawyer who had been sent from England to observe my trial. When the judges asked him for documentation, he said he would bring it next time. The judges were thrown by this, but they couldn't say anything because the courts were supposed to be open to the public.

The hearing was quite short, but we learned a little more about the Velascos' defence. They intended to rely on their own witness statements, as well as a statement from someone in the FELCN that they were acting under instructions to catch me in the act of dealing. It was a dirty trick the Velascos were playing on me, but I knew exactly what I was going to do in return. It wouldn't be long before I got my revenge.

|||||

The guards were even more confused when Rusty and I returned to San Pedro together that afternoon, me in handcuffs and Rusty wearing his suit and tie. According to his permission slip, he was supposed to be my cousin helping me while I received my medical treatment, but now he had suddenly become my lawyer. One of the cheekier guards asked whether we were really cousins. By then, Rusty had worked out how to make the Bolivians laugh. Before answering, he looked at the guard very seriously.

'Every single one of my cousins is a doctor or a lawyer, except for Thomas,' he said, punching me in the arm as though he was extremely disappointed that I had turned out to be a drug trafficker. 'He's the black sheep of the family.' The lieutenant laughed so much he had trouble opening the gate.

Being my human rights lawyer also gave Rusty an excuse to take his dictaphone, laptop and micro-cassettes in and out of the prison. For my subsequent court appearances, he always took these to court to make himself appear more professional. The judges were afraid of being recorded, so when Rusty failed to produce any proof that he was who he said he was, they banned him from using the dictaphone and computer. After that, he had to take handwritten notes.

As soon as we got through the gates, I went straight to Orlando's shop. Orlando's wife worked as a legal secretary during the day. In the evenings and on weekends she supplied secretarial services to the