Iguala, Guerrero - Judges in Acapulco and the capital [Chilpancingo] issued indictments of 22 members of the State Coordinating Committee of Education Workers in Guerrero (CETEG) accused by state prosecutors of sedition, mutiny and attacks on communication channels during protest actions initiated by dissident teachers against the education reform since February 25 and which have stalemated the administration of Governor Angel Aguirre Rivero.
However, the state government provided the indicted teachers with legal defense through the Public Defender's Office and even bailed out the defendants, so they are free while judicial procedures continue, indicate official documents consulted by Proceso.
The collective indictments were issued on Saturday, June 8th and payment of the bond--set at 5,000 pesos [USD$395] per person--was filed by a woman, Maria de Lourdes Valdivia Castañon, who incidentally appears on the list of beneficiaries of the state welfare program called Guerrero Fulfills.
However, the state government provided the indicted teachers with legal defense through the Public Defender's Office and even bailed out the defendants, so they are free while judicial procedures continue, indicate official documents consulted by Proceso.
The collective indictments were issued on Saturday, June 8th and payment of the bond--set at 5,000 pesos [USD$395] per person--was filed by a woman, Maria de Lourdes Valdivia Castañon, who incidentally appears on the list of beneficiaries of the state welfare program called Guerrero Fulfills.
However, one of the teachers revealed to Proceso that the person responsible for paying the bonds is Ernesto Aguirre Gutiérrez, nephew of Gov. Aguirre, who is serving as coordinator of Strategic Projects, even though his dismissal was officially announced last year, after the nepotism scandal that confronted the governor.
On May 24, Proceso revealed that trial judges had issued arrest warrants against 28 dissident teachers for sedition, mutiny, attacks on roads and damages to the state government, charges filed in seven criminal cases in courts in Acapulco and in the capital. The report also indicated that seven of the accused were women and 21 were men.
The first four teachers who were arrested and subject to criminal proceedings were Genaro Guevara Hernández, Mauro Lázaro García, José Juárez Tlatempa and Cesáreo Rosendo Feliciano, captured in early May and transferred to maximum security prisons outside the state at the request of the state government on the grounds that they were "extremely dangerous criminals."
Subsequently they were returned to the state and released on bail, after the state government provided them with legal defense through public defender Mario Jaimes, and even posted bail of 20,000 pesos [USD$1,580] for the four. Now, another 22 teachers are subject to prosecution under the same circumstances as the first four.
Thus, 24 members of the dissident teachers organization are not being prosecuted for the damage caused to political party headquarters or to legislative and executive buildings, facts recorded at the rockiest moment of CETEG protests in the capital. Rather, they are being charged by the state government for a peaceful demonstration held on February 25.
Meanwhile, the two leaders of CETEG, Gonzalo Juárez Ocampo y Minervino Morán, for whom there are also arrests warrant, are free because they were granted amparos [orders of protection] by the federal courts.
This story, released by Proceso, has provoked the annoyance of Aguirre Rivero, who accused this reporter of inventing that the state government has provided the legal defense and paid the bail of the CTEG members, despite evidence in the criminal case number 44 -2013, which contradicts the statements of the governor.
... Various groups of the state have criticized the fact that the state government ended up "negotiating the law" with members of the dissident teachers group, CETEG. Spanish original
The first four teachers who were arrested and subject to criminal proceedings were Genaro Guevara Hernández, Mauro Lázaro García, José Juárez Tlatempa and Cesáreo Rosendo Feliciano, captured in early May and transferred to maximum security prisons outside the state at the request of the state government on the grounds that they were "extremely dangerous criminals."
Subsequently they were returned to the state and released on bail, after the state government provided them with legal defense through public defender Mario Jaimes, and even posted bail of 20,000 pesos [USD$1,580] for the four. Now, another 22 teachers are subject to prosecution under the same circumstances as the first four.
Thus, 24 members of the dissident teachers organization are not being prosecuted for the damage caused to political party headquarters or to legislative and executive buildings, facts recorded at the rockiest moment of CETEG protests in the capital. Rather, they are being charged by the state government for a peaceful demonstration held on February 25.
Meanwhile, the two leaders of CETEG, Gonzalo Juárez Ocampo y Minervino Morán, for whom there are also arrests warrant, are free because they were granted amparos [orders of protection] by the federal courts.
This story, released by Proceso, has provoked the annoyance of Aguirre Rivero, who accused this reporter of inventing that the state government has provided the legal defense and paid the bail of the CTEG members, despite evidence in the criminal case number 44 -2013, which contradicts the statements of the governor.
... Various groups of the state have criticized the fact that the state government ended up "negotiating the law" with members of the dissident teachers group, CETEG. Spanish original