Mexican judge accepts charges against ex-prosecutor in disappearance of 43 students

Record ID: 1686188

  • Title: Mexican judge accepts charges against ex-prosecutor in disappearance of 43 students
  • Date: 25th August 2022
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (AUGUST 24, 2022) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** COURT BUILDING EXTERIOR POLICEMEN TALKING (NIGHT SHOT) DISAPPEARED STUDENT BENJAMIN BAUTISTA’S MOTHER, CRISTINA BAUTISTA, ARRIVING AT COURT (NIGHT SHOT) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MOTHER OF DISAPPEARED STUDENT BENJAMIN BAUTISTA, CRISTINA BAUTISTA, SAYING: “We (families of 43 disappeare
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2022 18:39
  • Keywords: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Ayotzinapa Disappeared Jesus Murillo Mexico Students
  • Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions,South America / Central America
  • Reuters ID: LVA001070925082022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A Mexican judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to hear charges against former Attorney General Jesus Murillo for his alleged role in the 2014 disappearance of 43 students and its subsequent investigation, judicial authorities said on Wednesday (August 24).
    Murillo, who was arrested on Friday (August 19) in the first high-level detention of an official for involvement in the case, is accused of torture, forced disappearance and obstruction of justice.
    The country's top prosecutor at the time, Murillo oversaw the highly criticized inquiry into the incident in which 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College went missing in the southwest state of Guerrero.
    His arrest comes after Mexico's top human rights investigator called the disappearances "a state crime" last week, marking one of the worst human rights abuses in the country's history.
    International experts have said Murillo's investigation, which concluded the students had been mistakenly killed by a local drug gang, was riddled with missteps and abuses, including the torture of witnesses.
    Murillo defended himself during his indictment hearing Wednesday (August 24), according to local media.
    Murillo will remain in prison until his trial, the judge ruled late Wednesday (August 24).
    President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office at the end of 2018, promising to look into the disappearances.
    Last week, a judge released nearly 100 arrest warrants related to the case, including Murillo's, prosecutors said.
    The remains of only three of the students have ever been definitively identified.
    (Production: Josue Gonzalez, Carlos Carrillo, Anna Portella)
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