Por Emir Olivares Alsonso
More
than seventy social organizations demanded the immediate release of the
Tzotzil teacher Alberto Patishtán Gómez, who “was unjustly accused of
the murder of seven state and municipal police in 2000, after
investigations and trials full of irregularities.” He was then sentenced
to sixty years in prison.
The groups making up the National Network of Civil Human Rights organizations All Rights for All
demanded that the authorities conduct investigations that prove the
innocence of the teacher (adherent to the Sixth Declaration of the
Lacandon Jungle) and to identify and punish those truly responsible for
the crimes of which he is accused ….
They
celebrated the release, on July 4, of nine prisoners–Patishtán’s
comrades–who are adherents to the Sixth, after waiting three days for
the state government’s decision to be carried out.
“The
nine people released, part of Solidarity with the Voice of el Amate,
had been unjustly imprisoned. After a long process in the search for
justice and struggle against impunity, we celebrate their release while
we also express our concern about the lack of news about the possible
release of Alberto Patishtán,” declared the network’s seventy-three
groups in a statement.
They
emphasized the innocence of the Tzotzil teacher, locked up for thirteen
years, given that the evidence against him “is false”, and they
presented the evidence gathered by his legal defence. “Mr. Patishtán is
innocent and should be released immediately. It is important to note
that the governor of the state of Chiapas (Manuel Velasco Coello) has
stated that the release (of the indigenous man) represents ‘an act of
justice’.”
The
organizations indicated that they have kept an eye on the information
about the situation of Patishtán, and that “his life experience and
struggle is part of our campaign We Defend the Hope, which tells
the story of this human rights defender and the organization that has
accompanied him in the pursuit of justice, the Fray Bartolomé de las
Casas Human Rights Center” [San Cristóbol de las Casas, Chiapas].
Therefore,
they demanded that the authorities “perform all necessary actions to
ensure the prompt release of Alberto Patishtán and to conduct an
investigative process that proves his innocence and, moreover, to
identify the perpetrators of the crimes for which Mr. Patishtán
continues to be imprisoned.”
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