BUENOS AIRES, March 20 (UPI) -- A University of North Carolina physicist being held in Argentina on a drug charge says someone hid cocaine in his luggage without his knowledge.
Paul H. Frampton told The Raleigh News & Observer he did not want to give too many details because that might hinder his defense.
"I am innocent," he said. "I will not be convicted. It is just that the Argentinian justice system is very slow. There is easily enough evidence that I didn't know there were drugs in the bag, and that will come out, I hope sooner rather than later."
The university has put Frampton, the Louis D. Rubin Jr. distinguished professor of physics and astronomy, on unpaid leave. Frampton said provost Bruce Carney acted out of jealousy, which Carney called "an interesting assertion."
Frampton has been held at Villa DeVoto Prison in Buenos Aires since his arrest at the airport earlier this year. He said he has written four academic papers there, including two already scheduled for publication, and has been advising two students.
David Eby, one of the students, said he finds it "admirable" that Frampton has been as helpful from prison as he would have been in Chapel Hill. He said he only learned Sunday that Frampton was in prison although he knew he was outside the United States.
"He is human, but this is so far out of his character that I think I actually laughed when I heard about it," Eby said.
