With yet another Canadian locked up facing questionable charges, Mexico's justice system is again under scrutiny -- but this time attention is also focused on the Canadian government and the assistance, or lack thereof, it provides to citizens who run afoul of the legal system of one of our NAFTA-partners.

Punta Grande is a maximum-security prison near Guadalajara, Mexico. It is home to some of the most dangerous criminals in the country. As the cells are underground, if you end up here you literally don't see the light of day until you are released. It is also where a Canadian man, Pavel Kulisek, is locked up. He's been here for over a year. And how he got there is the story of one families' dream turned into a nightmare.

Originally from the Czech Republic, Pavel and his wife Jirina immigrated to Canada 20 years ago and settled in Vancouver, B.C. He built a successful building contracting company. He worked hard and played hard. One of his passions was riding his all terrain vehicles.

But most of all, Pavel was a family man. His life revolved around his wife and his two young daughters, Isabel and Anna. Wanting to spend more time with his family before they entered school, Pavel and Jirina decided to spend several months travelling around Mexico.

So the family bought an RV and headed down the west coast to Baja. Eventually they ended up in a little town at the tip of the Baja Peninsula -- Los Barriles, a quiet town with great beaches and friendly people. The family decided to stay for a couple of years. They bought a house and enrolled the girls in a local school.

Besides his family, Pavel had one other passion -- off-road vehicles: all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes. He even taught his children to ride ATVs.

About a year ago, Pavel started to prepare for one of the most famous dirt bike competitions in the world -- the Baja 300. And that was when he was introduced to a fellow off-road enthusiast, Carlos Herrera.

According to Jirina, her first impression of Carlos was that he was a man like Pavel, "a family-oriented man. He had four little children, always talking about his children and his wife."

The two families spent some time together. Pavel and Carlos indulged in their love of dirt biking together.

But within weeks of meeting, Pavel's life would change dramatically. One evening, Pavel received a phone call from Carlos saying that he was with a mutual acquaintance, Eduardo. As Eduardo was someone he owed money to for construction supplies, Pavel hopped onto his ATV and sped off to pay him. Jirina expected it would be a brief meeting, but Pavel never returned home.

Missing

Jirina called Pavel's cellphone, but no answer. She called friends, but no one had seen him. She even called Carlos' cellphone, but no answer there either.

In the morning she started to panic and went looking for him. She went to the local police but they knew nothing. It was as if Pavel vanished.

She called the Canadian Consulate and finally, at about 4:30 p.m., they learned that Pavel had been taken to Mexico City along with Carlos and Eduardo. Pavel and three other men had been arrested by Mexican Federal Police -- something to do with drug charges.

Shocked, Jirina said she had no idea how that could have happened.

What had happened was unimaginable to Jirina. Pavel's dirt-biking buddy was not Carlos at all. Police identified him as Gustavo Rivera Herrera, alleged to be one of the top men in the Tijuana Drug Cartel. And Eduardo was Marcos Assemat Hernandez, a corrupt former cop with previous drug convictions, also alleged to be a member of the same cartel. As for Pavel, police had no idea who he was, but when he arrived at the spot where police had been watching Gustavo, they arrested him too and charged him with being part of the same gang.

Jirina emphatically told W-FIVE that Pavel had never been in trouble with the law in Canada, the Czech Republic or Mexico, and was never involved in drugs, so she was stunned. His clean record was corroborated by the RCMP who, at Jirina's request, did a background check in their criminal data-base and found nothing on Pavel Kulisek.

Needing the support of friends, Jirina and the girls returned to Vancouver, to campaign for his exoneration and release from the Mexican jail.. The girls ask lots of questions and wonder when their father will be back. But that's a question Jirina just cannot answer. She can't tell them if he will be home for their birthdays, Halloween or even Christmas. Instead she tries to keep them busy so they cannot dwell too much on the enormous change in their young lives.

Locked up for over a year and charged with being part of a Mexican drug cartel, Pavel's only contact with his family has been a seven-minute collect phone call prison authorities allow once a week.

War on drugs

Since his inauguration in 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderone has cracked down on the illicit drug trade, but this has resulted in conflicts among the cartels that have led to unprecedented drug related assassinations and kidnappings. According to the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, there were nearly 6,200 drug related killings in 2008, and that Mexico produced an astonishing 18 metric tonnes of heroin and nearly 16,000 tones of marijuana.

Under huge pressure for any kind of success, the government has heralded anything that could be perceived as a victory -- like the arrest of alleged kingpin Gustavo Rivera and the man they allege is his associate, Canadian Pavel Kulisek.

According to Pavel's Canadian lawyer, Guillermo Cruz, that is why his client is still in jail. "The State has to fight with all the strength against organized crime. But in my case, I believe that innocent people have to pay the consequences of this policy," said Cruz, who firmly believes his client is innocent.

Cruz showed W-FIVE what's called an Auto de plazo constitutional, a document which summarizes all the evidence that the judge believes is relevant to the case -- and reveals the allegations against Pavel Kulisek.

According to the document, the case against Pavel started with an anonymous phone call and then continued with information provided by a protected witness, a corrupt former police officer who seemingly bartered evidence to save himself. That former cop and now protected witness was Macos Assemat Hernandez -- the man Pavel knew as Eduardo.

Claiming that he was introduced to Pavel by the alleged drug kingpin Gustavo Rivera Herrera, Hernandez accused Pavel of collaborating with Herrera to obtain properties that could be used as safe houses. But under cross examination, Hernandez admitted that he had never seen Pavel commit any crime and that Pavel didn't even know the former cop's real name.

The prosecutor in the case, Noe Ramirez Mandujano, has also come under scrutiny. He has been arrested and charged with taking bribes from a rival drug cartel. Ramirez has been accused of taking bribes of $450,000 per month, as reported in The Economist newsmagazine and elsewhere.

Legal limbo

The case against Pavel Kulisek hinges upon the evidence of a corrupt former police officer and an investigation put together by a disgraced prosecutor, who has been charged with being on the take from a rival drug cartel, yet the prosecution of Pavel continues. Under Mexico's justice system he remains locked up, despite the efforts of his lawyer. After reading the Auto de plazo constitutional and finding no credible evidence, Pavel's lawyer, Cruz, filed for an immediate dismissal of the charges, but he's been waiting 10 months for the judges to rule.

Tired of the long delays, Jirina has tried to take matters into her own hands in Vancouver by putting pressure on the Mexican government. Last year, she and her husband's supporters held a protest at the Mexican Consulate in Vancouver. The demonstration ended with a meeting with the local Consul, who promised to look into Pavel's case, but since that time she has heard nothing, only silence.

Mexican justice

As frightening and unjust as Pavel Kulisek's incarceration may be, according to Human Rights Watch lawyer and researcher, Tamara Taraciuk, cases like his are not the exception, they are the norm. "I'd say the Mexican justice system is totally dysfunctional," said Taraciuk.

Just how dysfunctional? Tarciuk provided several examples to W-FIVE.

Though torture is illegal in Mexico, confessions extracted by torture are admissible in court. "In general terms, judges accept coerced confessions as evidence at trial." Continuing, Taraciuk said: "A prosecutor finds it much easier to beat a confession out of someone and use that as evidence to build a case rather than carry out a thorough and reliable investigation."

Taraciuk and Human Rights Watch are not alone in their condemnation. Both Amnesty International and another international human rights group, Transparency International, have recently written damning reports on the state of Mexican justice.

In a justice system which has been so openly criticized, what safeguards are there for Canadians who may find themselves accused or arrested? W-FIVE asked the new Mexican Ambassador to Canada, Francisco Barrio, about the reports from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Transparency International. He responded by saying "that most of the time, the judicial system functions according to the law."

Asked about Pavel Kulisek's case, Ambassador Barrio said, "We will have to wait for the final resolution, then we can comment." He told W-FIVE that to do otherwise would interfere in the case, because "the judicial system has its own field of action and must be respected."

According to Taraciuk, Pavel may be waiting for justice for a long time. The Mexican judicial system moves at a glacial pace, with accused often held for more than a year before getting their day in court.

"In Mexico, over 40 per cent of people that are imprisoned still have not been convicted of a crime. This means that they are waiting for their cases to be built and for judges to decide what's going to happen to them," said Taraciuk. She added that it's not unusual to have corrupt prosecutors and police officers running cases and collecting evidence.

Seeking help

When W-FIVE questioned the Mexican ambassador about the prosecutor who handled Pavel's case -- the same prosecutor who has been accused of taking kickbacks from one of the drug cartels -- Ambassador Barrio insisted he had not previously heard this information. This, despite the fact that the scandal made headlines in all the major Mexican newspapers and around the world and was reported by the BBC, CNN, The New York Times and The Economist.

Pavel's family and friends have also turned to the Canadian government for help, and wonder why Ottawa hasn't done more to assist Pavel since his arrest. W-FIVE took their concerns to the man whose job it is to protect Canadians overseas -- the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs -- Peter Kent.

When asked whether he had faith in the Mexican judicial system, Kent told W-FIVE, "We have to have faith that due process will prevail."

Having faith in the system is a familiar refrain that Canadians have heard from their foreign affairs ministers, time and again.

Two years ago, following the murder of Dominic and Annunziata Ianiero, and an apparently bungled Mexican investigation, former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Helena Guergis commented on the case by saying, "We must wait. We must respect the due process. That's what we do in Canada." The brutal slaying of the Woodbridge, Ont., couple who were in Mexico for a family wedding, remains unsolved.

Last year, after a public outcry over Mexico's incarceration and treatment of Brenda Martin -- who had been accused of money-laundering despite overwhelming evidence that she was little more than a cook -- then-foreign affairs minister Peter McKay told reporters: "The Mexican Justice system is one just like ours that won't tolerate political interference."

Now, despite the criticism of Mexico's treatment of Pavel Kulisek, Kent insisted: "The Mexican justice system is what the Mexican justice system is. But his case is proceeding."

Tamara Taraciuk believes what Mexico has is a non-functioning justice system. "I don't think it is a normal, healthy justice system," she said.

Yet, regardless of whether Mexico's justice system sputters along or is dysfunctional, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs, if a Canadian gets into legal trouble, they're on their own. Canada won't interfere because, according to Kent, "The state of Mexico, the nation of Mexico, is a sovereign state. We stand back and we let due process take its course."

Meantime, Canada's limited assistance to Pavel Kulisek consists of a consular visit every five weeks. According to Pavel, the last one lasted 20 minutes, and after months locked in Mexico's most notorious prison, Canadian officials helped set up a prison bank account so that he could buy much-needed soap and toothpaste.

According to his wife, Jirina, it's not enough. While the Canadian government waits for due process to take its course, Jirina is in Vancouver wondering just when Pavel's ordeal will be over and he will be reunited with his family.