*The Tzotzil teacher asks
the authorities to act with truth
*He is currently receiving
treatment for a brain tumour in a clinic in the south of Mexico
City
Alberto Patishtán says
he has no preference for which legal process allows him to regain his freedom.
The priority, he says, is to end his imprisonment Photo: Yazmín Ortega
Cortés
Fernando Camacho
Servín / La Jornada, 9th
October, 2013
For the teacher Alberto Patishtán, the way in which he gets
his release is much less important at this time than the fact that it finally
happens.
Whether through a possible
presidential pardon, a law of amnesty or even the long route of the
Inter-American Court of Justice, he says, the priority now is to end the
imprisonment that began thirteen years ago for a crime he did not
commit.
In an interview with La Jornada at a clinic located in the south of the city, where he is currently receiving medical treatment for a brain tumour, the Tzotzil activist commented on the meaning of all these years of confinement, the persistence of abuses against members of the indigenous peoples and, of course, of his release which has been postponed so many times.
As may be recalled, Patishtán was accused of involvement in the killing of seven policemen that occurred on June 12, 2000, in the municipality of El Bosque, Chiapas, where he originated. He was subsequently sentenced to sixty years in prison, despite evidence that at the time of the crime he was elsewhere.
Outraged, but Calm
-Professor, how do you feel in health and spirit to face all this process?
In an interview with La Jornada at a clinic located in the south of the city, where he is currently receiving medical treatment for a brain tumour, the Tzotzil activist commented on the meaning of all these years of confinement, the persistence of abuses against members of the indigenous peoples and, of course, of his release which has been postponed so many times.
As may be recalled, Patishtán was accused of involvement in the killing of seven policemen that occurred on June 12, 2000, in the municipality of El Bosque, Chiapas, where he originated. He was subsequently sentenced to sixty years in prison, despite evidence that at the time of the crime he was elsewhere.
Outraged, but Calm
-Professor, how do you feel in health and spirit to face all this process?
="I'm not well, because I'm
in a prison. In terms of health, it has always been bad due to the lack of
attention in the CERESO where I've been held and in the other prison, too. When
they operated on the tumour a year ago, they didn't remove it all, and it
appears that it began to grow again. I don't bear it very well, but we try to
live all that is possible in every minute of every day."
-How do you keep from
breaking down in the face of a situation in which many would perhaps have
already broken?
-I just put myself in God's
hands, and that is how I've been for all this time. It's essential for me to
entrust myself to God. The other thing is that I have a clear conscience. I did
not commit the crime that they attribute to me. I am at peace to move on,
because I feel free and innocent. I only long for my freedom, physical freedom,"
he says with a calm countenance.
-How did you take the fact
that the first Collegiate Tribunal of the twentieth Circuit denied your freedom?
How do you interpret this ruling?
-"I feel outraged, with
anger. Although we already know what the justice system is like, that for those
of us who are prisoners, it keeps us here due to our lack of resources, perhaps
because of our race and all that, I really was not expecting it. In my mind I
was calm, because I already know the way things are, but I was also waiting for
a little miracle," Patishtán confesses between laughs.
-How do you take the fact
that you remain in jail but Florence Cassez has been released, or that they have
returned the properties of Raúl Salinas de Gortari to him? What kind of country
has Mexico become?
-The authorities are
inflexible, they have no conscience. They recently released another (involved in
the massacre) at Acteal, when he has already confessed his guilt. But I, who
have provided much evidence and a mountain of proof, I am not released because
they do everything backwards. The authorities walk with today's
leadership."
-Are you aware that you have
become a kind of symbol against the existence of political
prisoners?
-I only know that I do a
little for me, but there are many cases like mine. There is one of a
compañero who is still struggling with me. His name is Alejandro, and he
was arrested in Veracruz and sentenced to thirty years for a crime he did not
commit. They put a Tzotzil translator there in Veracruz, but the sad thing is
that the indigenous people in Veracruz do not speak Tzotzil.
In the CERESO where I am
now, there is only one defender for 500 inmates. What can one defender do with
so many people? There is also a young woman called Antonia; she has spent ten
years in prison (without a sentence). They could judge her and say that her
sentence is six years. What about the other four years?
-It is said that there are
three ways you might be released: a pardon, a law of amnesty and going before
the Inter-American Court of Justice. How do you see these
options?
-What's important to me is
that they release me! That's it!
"Ask for pardon? Only if I had
lied!"
-There's no need, then, to
ask for pardon ...
-That's right, I would have to do it if I had been lying. What I want is for them to free me - The Tzotzil teacher responds emphatically, in the face of the reporter's persistent questioning regarding the issue of how he might arrive at that point.
-That's right, I would have to do it if I had been lying. What I want is for them to free me - The Tzotzil teacher responds emphatically, in the face of the reporter's persistent questioning regarding the issue of how he might arrive at that point.
-At this time, how important
are the themes of justice, truth, reparation of damages?
-I haven't even thought
about that. I don't know, time will tell. The first priority is my
health.
-What are your plans for
after leaving prison? How will you face this stage?
-Right now I feel that I'm
living a very different world. I don't see beyond what is happening. I don't
know what the environment is, so I can't comment, but a candle that gives light
isn't put under the bed so no one can see it. It's always placed on a nightstand
so everyone can see.
-What would be your message
to the people who support you?
-You have to keep fighting.
We should not wait for justice, because that way it will never come. There are
many tasks; sometimes there's not even time for a rest. Carry on with a little
or with much, but keep on.
-And for the President, the
Congress, the politicians who are going to decide on your
release?
-Let them act with justice
and with truth. No more.
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