La Paz, Bolivia – Two-time Oscar winning actor and social activist Sean Penn is continuing his crusade to see fellow American Jacob Ostreicher released from Bolivia where he has been held in prison for 19 months on suspicion of money-laundering without being charged.
At a press conference today in Santa Cruz, Penn said, “There is a cancer that is attacking the heart of Bolivia,” and denounced the “mafia extortion and corruption” that pervades the country and creates “an existential crisis,” according to a report in eju.tv (http://bit.ly/XTqp3n). Penn also called for Ostreicher’s freedom and for his safe return to his family of five children and 11 grandchildren.
Penn personally attended Ostreicher’s appeals hearing yesterday in Santa Cruz where the judges denied the motion to immediately release Ostreicher.