If he is not successful,
there only remains the Inter-American Court of Justice, or the political route,
which means accepting guilt
Emir Olivares Alonso, La
Jornada, 20th August 2013
The last legal resort for declaring the innocence of the Tzotzil teacher Alberto Patishtán could be resolved in a couple of weeks, when a federal appeals court decides the exceptional case introduced by his defence team. Based on national and inter-American jurisprudence, [the defence team] requested that the law be applied retroactively to the case, because the conviction involved violations of due process.
The last legal resort for declaring the innocence of the Tzotzil teacher Alberto Patishtán could be resolved in a couple of weeks, when a federal appeals court decides the exceptional case introduced by his defence team. Based on national and inter-American jurisprudence, [the defence team] requested that the law be applied retroactively to the case, because the conviction involved violations of due process.
This was reported by Sandino
Rivero, a member of the teacher's legal defence team. Patishtán has been
imprisoned for thirteen of the sixty years to which he was sentenced for the
murder of several policemen in Chiapas.
The lawyer stated that on
Tuesday [August 20], Patishtán
will start to hold a daily twelve-hour fast (from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM) until the
First Appellate Court seated in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, reaches its decision,
which is expected to be between 29th August and 5th
September.
Rivero stressed that there
are sufficient grounds "for recognizing the innocence" of Patishtán, although
the Appellate Court will have the final word. If the decision is not favourable,
"there would be nothing left to do legally at the national level. The next step
would be to take the case to the Inter-American system. Although there is also
the political solution through a pardon, which would mean accepting his guilt,
the decision (to accept the pardon, or not) is entirely a matter for the teacher
and his family".
The defence arguments are
based on case law which appeared after Patishtán's case was reviewed (2003), and
support the invalidity of four of the six pieces of evidence by which he was
sentenced, which "were obtained through fundamental rights
violations".
Another reason is that the
new law of amparo [legal protection] provides for the law to
be applied retroactively when it benefits people. Additionally, the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled on the legal concept of
fraudulent judgment, i.e., when a case is closed it may be reopened because
violations of due process occurred, or owing to the bias of the
judges.
This Wednesday, August 21st,
a day of "Global Action" will be held, convoked by Patishtán himself. In Mexico
City, it will include a mobilisation from the Parque Hundido [Sunken Park] to the Council of the
Federal Judiciary.
based on a
translation by Jane Brundage
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario