Baroness Sarah Ludford, left, Iris Baker and Sabine Zanker stand in front of Downing Street to submit a petition for Nick Baker's freedom.

For a young Briton facing 14 years in a Japanese prison, time would seem to be a dangerous enemy.

After being charged and convicted of trying to smuggle a record number of drugs through customs at Narita Airport, Nick Baker is running out of time to obtain vital information from Brussels that he hopes could exonerate him.

See "The Struggle for Justice" from The Foreigner - Japan's November 2003 edition

Thirty-three year old Baker came to Japan with a traveling companion he had known in England for two years. This companion, who's name cannot be published for legal reasons, is currently awaiting trial in Belgium on drug possession charges.

Baker says this companion framed him, by tricking him into carrying a suitcase which contained 41,120 tablets of ecstasy and 990 grams of cocaine, hidden in a false bottom. He says the suitcase didn't belong to him, and claims it was his companion's, who left Japan weeks later without being detained or questioned by the Japanese police.

During his trial, information concerning his companion's arrest was disallowed from being considered as evidence. Since November, Baker and his lawyers have been trying to put together an appeal, which could potentially take place in March if a Japanese judge decides it's warranted.

But when Shunji Miyake traveled to Brussels to speak to the Belgian prosecutor, the Procurer de Roi who is handling Baker's companion's case, he came home empty-handed. No information can be used from the case to help Baker while the trial is still going on. And the completion of that trial may well be past the March deadline for Baker's appeal. But that's not good enough for Baker's supporters, who are beginning to feel their hope fading.

"If the Japanese (court) wanted this evidence, they could have had the file months ago," said Baker's mother Iris. "I think it's already too late for Nick."

She says her crusade has gone beyond proving her son innocent. Now she's fighting for justice, a fair trial, and basic human rights and dignity.

"I want the world to know that the Japanese are barbaric and cruel, and that no one gets a fair trial in their country," she said. "It's gone way past innocent or guilty now."

In a recent letter from Baker to his mother, obtained by The Foreigner - Japan, he speaks of his jailers as "doing all they can to push me over the edge."

Baker also refers to a letter sent to someone at the British embassy about "my latest sick and pathetic treatment, that is clearly racial, and that they have singled me out."

In the letter, Baker says he is awaiting punishment for not eating a kiwi fruit at the right time, while other Japanese inmates were allowed to hold food in their cells. The nature of the punishment is not yet known.

If Baker's appeal doesn't go through, there will be a final verdict on March 23. At that time, Baker will have to pay a £27,000 fine, something that the family cannot afford.

"I have managed to raise £5,000 but we are in desperate need of funds," said Iris. "If I can't pay the fine two weeks after the final verdict, Nick will have to do an extra 500 days of solitary confinement or hard labour before he can even start to serve his 14 years or apply to transfer back to the UK."

To that end, Baker's supporters have set up a website to help them pay the fine, and to draw attention to his plight, at www.justicefornickbaker.org. In his letter, Baker says he's even ready to sell his story, so that the money made from it can be used to pay for the fine.

For both Baker, his mother and his family, time seems to be making things worse. Iris says the fight is wearing her down, and for her son, it's his sanity she's concerned about.

"I have not had any life since this started , no holidays, no fun, just a constant battle everyday," she said. "All my savings are gone, and I hope if Nick is lucky enough to get an appeal that I can get a cheap or even free flight. But I must have spent so far over £12,000 and the effect on my health I expect is enormous, so God know what Nick's health is like.

Indeed, for Nick, it may be much worse. In his closing remarks, he seemed anything but hopeful.

"I love and miss you mum. I do believe I'm breaking down mum."

Update: The Foreigner - Japan has learned that Nick Baker was moved to the Tokyo Detention Centre on February 4, where he'll find out if he has been granted an appeal hearing.