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| Nestora Salgado leaves prison this morning Photo: María José Martínez/ Cuartoscuro |
Nestora Salgado, leader of the Community Police of Olinalá, Guerrero, left Tepepan Women's Prison [in Mexico City] today, Friday, after a release order was issued yesterday by three criminal judges in Guerrero who acquitted her of the charges of kidnapping and murder. Her release comes after spending two years seven months in prison accused of various crimes (mainly kidnapping) that the Guerrero State Prosecutor was never able to prove.
Last night, standing in the defendant's cage in Criminal Court 67 located in Santa Martha Acatitla Prison [Mexico City], Salgado was notified of the court ruling. Later today, in the company of her lawyers, she will give a press conference to set forth her position. César Sandino, one of her lawyers, reported last night to La Jornada that Señora Salgado would leave Tepepan Prison at about 9 a.m. on Friday [3/18/2016].
Last Tuesday [3/8/2015] Salgado received a release order for the charges of kidnapping brought on August 23, 2013, but she could not be released from prison because three new arrest warrants were served on her for crimes that the prosecution was similarly unable to prove.
Salgado's lawyers said that the release orders demonstrate
''the injustice that was committed on the señora, upon whom they fraudulently imputed false facts and events.''
Initially, Salgado was jailed on charges of kidnapping, criminal association and, more recently, for homicide.
During an interview with La Jornada, published in its print edition on January 19, Nestora told Blanche Petrich that the day she was arrested the then-governor of Guerrero, Ángel Aguirre Rivero, told the press that she had been locked up because she was ''a danger to social peace.''
During the time that Salgado was held prisoner, the violence was exacerbated exponentially in Guerrero. The Comandanta of Community Police in Olinalá declared that while she was imprisoned, not only did the case of the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students explode and countless graves were found with dozens of bodies in Iguala, but the drug cartels—which flourished in past Guerrero administrations—were also strengthened.
In an interview with this newspaper, Nestora recalled that [former Guerrero governor] Aguirre Rivero—beset by accusations of complicity in the Ayotzinapa case—was forced to resign 15 months after she was arrested. The Comandanta has said publicly that the exercise of her functions as head of Community Police uncovered a prostitution and child pornography ring, but it was not possible to present evidence or bring criminal charges in the case because she was arrested.
She has also maintained that on August 19, 2013—four days before she was arrested at a military checkpoint—she had an appointment with former governor Ángel Aguirre Rivero, during which she made several complaints against state authorities linked to organized crime.
The Guerrero State Prosecutor has the legal option to file an appeal against the release order that favored Nestora Salgado, but so far State Prosecutor Javier Olea has made no pronouncement about the matter. Spanish original
For more on this story, see Nestora Salgado.
Related MV Translations:
During an interview with La Jornada, published in its print edition on January 19, Nestora told Blanche Petrich that the day she was arrested the then-governor of Guerrero, Ángel Aguirre Rivero, told the press that she had been locked up because she was ''a danger to social peace.''
During the time that Salgado was held prisoner, the violence was exacerbated exponentially in Guerrero. The Comandanta of Community Police in Olinalá declared that while she was imprisoned, not only did the case of the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students explode and countless graves were found with dozens of bodies in Iguala, but the drug cartels—which flourished in past Guerrero administrations—were also strengthened.
In an interview with this newspaper, Nestora recalled that [former Guerrero governor] Aguirre Rivero—beset by accusations of complicity in the Ayotzinapa case—was forced to resign 15 months after she was arrested. The Comandanta has said publicly that the exercise of her functions as head of Community Police uncovered a prostitution and child pornography ring, but it was not possible to present evidence or bring criminal charges in the case because she was arrested.
She has also maintained that on August 19, 2013—four days before she was arrested at a military checkpoint—she had an appointment with former governor Ángel Aguirre Rivero, during which she made several complaints against state authorities linked to organized crime.
The Guerrero State Prosecutor has the legal option to file an appeal against the release order that favored Nestora Salgado, but so far State Prosecutor Javier Olea has made no pronouncement about the matter. Spanish original
For more on this story, see Nestora Salgado.
Related MV Translations:
- Mexico Drug War: Nestora Salgado to be Released on Friday (3/17/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Nestora Salgado's Legal File and Preliminary Statement Hand-Delivered to Guerrero State Superior Court (3/13/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Nestora Salgado's Lawyers Expect Final Decision Next Week (3/12/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Nestora Salgado Re-arrested - Legal Proceeding Advances (3/9/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Judges Order Nestora Salgado's Release, But She is Held on 3 New Charges (3/8/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Nestora Salgado Recipient of "Full Punitive Power of Mexican State" (3/2/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Judges Order Nestora Salgado's Judicial Process 'Restarted' (2/26/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Nestora Salgado, UN and State Attorney General Olea (2/22/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Nestora Salgado Stands Tall Supported by International Law (2/21/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Government Deliberately Manipulating Judicial Proceeding Against Nestora Salgado - Lawyer (2/16/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: UN Group's Resolution to Release Nestora Binding on Government (2/4/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Nestora Salgado's Arrest "Illegal and Arbitrary" - UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (2/3/2016);
- Mexico Drug War-Guerrero: Nestora Salgado's Letter from Tepepan Women's Prison (8/28/2015);
- Mexico: Guerrero State Superior Court to Streamline Nestora Salgado's Judicial Process (8/26/2015);
- Nestora Salgado, the Narco-State and Patriarchal Violence (8/24/2015);
- Nestora Salgado Should be Released Immediately" - Human Rights Groups (8/12/2015);
- Witnesses Against Nestora Salgado Fail to Appear to Testify; Process Delayed (8/11/2015);
- Nestora Salgado Presents Her Case (8/10/2015);
- Nestora Salgado Charges: "The Criminals Respected Community Police; The Government Wanted to Destroy Us" (6/23/2015);
- Nestora Salgado Is Illegally Imprisoned; Victim of Irregular Court Proceedings (5/11/2015);
- Mexico-Guerrero: Defending CRAC-PC In Its Time of Crisis (7/19/2014);
- Community Police and Self-Defense Groups: A Necessary Distinction (1/23/2014);
- Self-Defense Groups and Community Police Are Not the Same (1/20/2014);
- "Being a Community Police Officer Is Not a Choice, But An Assembly Decision" (9/27/2013);
- Community Police Justice Focuses On Re-Education, Study and Work for 'Criminals' in Guerrero, Mexico (6/9/2013);
- Leaders of CRAC Community Police Defend Their 17-Year Record of "Good Work" (3/22/2013).