The Commission for Truth and Access to Justice in the Ayotzinapa case (Covaj) yesterday released its third report on the investigation into the disappearance of the 43 normalistasin which He accused the release of 65 alleged perpetrators hindered progress in solving the crime.
The whereabouts of the young people has been a mystery since 2014, when Jesus Murillo Karamformer Attorney General of the Republic, ordered the first line of investigation based on interviews with criminals who pointed to the Cocula dump. The historical truth was later discarded by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team.
The report, released by the Ministry of the Interior, states that the ruling issued by a Collegiate Court in Tamaulipas in favor of the 65 subjects is unconventional, as it resulted in the statements and testimonies of key persons being rendered ineffective by arguing that they were obtained under torture.
“The sentence freed those involved and hindered the possibility of obtaining justice and truth, guaranteeing impunity for one of the most serious crimes in Mexico’s recent history,” the document reads.
The court said the defendants’ statements were nullified, considering them to have been obtained under torture, “even though only some of them were confirmed as victims of this crime; this eliminated key evidence.”
The interruption of the investigation was seen as an overreach by the court, as it included aspects of forced disappearance and extrajudicial execution that were not part of the proceedings, which allowed the judge to release the 65 defendants without criminal liability.
The Ministry of the Interior said that since the sentence was “final and unassailable,” the released persons “cannot be tried again with the same evidence, even when there are clear indications of their participation” in the case.
He said another factor against him is three pending extraditions, including those of Tomás Cerón, former head of the Criminal Investigation Agency, and Abraham Eslava Arvizu, former security official, accused of torturing witnesses.
The third is that of the judge José Ulises Bernabé, to whom the US granted asylum for political persecution and who may have information about what the criminals did with the normalistas on the night of September 26, 2014.
The document adds that 23 new suspected perpetrators were arrested in the last year.
Among the prisoners, there is a notable presence of former police officers from the municipalities of Iguala, Cocula and Huitzuco, as well as members of the Army. This brings the total to 151 people currently on trial for participating directly or indirectly in the disappearance of the 43.
Most of those arrested are former security personnel: 48 worked for the Iguala police, 16 in the municipality of Huitzuco and two more in Cocula. In addition, 10 state officers, six members of the Army and six federal ministerial employees are in prison.
Conditions of criminal
Gildardo Lopez Astudillo, The Gilkey in the Ayotzinapa case, conditioned his collaboration on providing new information about the location of the 43 students in exchange for amnesty and avoiding the extradition of a criminal leader.
According to the third report of the commission for the Ayotzinapa case, The Gil He helped locate two of the missing persons and, until 2019, was closely involved with investigative teams and federal authorities.
“His collaboration lasted for five years; he was given protection and rewards. However, he conditioned new information in exchange for amnesty and avoiding the extradition of a high-level leader of another criminal organization, with whom he had already worked for the first findings,” the document details.
Authorities say the drug lord’s extradition was postponed and that since last September they have been in talks with him to continue his trial in Mexico, obtain amnesty and financial rewards in exchange for information.
In this regard, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent a letter to the parents of the 43, in which he accepts that after six years of investigation “little has been achieved” and blames The Gilmember of United Warriorsfor their lack of cooperation.
During the morning press conference, he insisted that there is no evidence that the Army participated in the crime.
“It has not been possible to move forward, because (López Astudillo) has not shown willingness to continue cooperating, even though he has contact with members of United Warriorspolice from Iguala and Cocula, and local authorities who know what happened,” he said.
However, he added that the search for the young men would continue.
“This shameful and regrettable matter must never be closed; it is an open case and, if we cannot clarify it, I sincerely hope that the next president will do so, Claudia Sheinbaum”.
