A district judge in the state of Mexico has ordered the release of eight soldiers linked to the Ayotzinapa case. The soldiers were arrested in June 2023 after prosecutors linked them to the disappearance of the 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero, in 2014. Gustavo Rodríguez de la Cruz, Omar Torres Marquillo, Juan Andrés Flores Lagunes, Ramiro Manzanares Sanabria, Roberto de los Santos Eduviges, Eloy Estrada Díaz, Uri Yashiel Reyes Lazos and Juan Sotelo Díaz face a trial with conditional release.
Accused of enforced disappearances, army personnel must comply with a series of conditions to regain their freedom, such as paying a bail of 50,000 pesos, regularly appearing in court every 15 days, retaining their passports and prohibiting contact with witnesses and victims of the If so, avoid traveling to the state of Guerrero. The soldiers could leave Military Camp No. 1-A this week, where they remain prisoners.
For nearly a decade, the families of the 43 students have insisted that the government investigate the role played by military personnel in the hours following the young people's disappearance. The Commission for Truth and Access to Justice in the Ayotzinapa Case (CoVAJ) has in recent years highlighted messages exchanged between the troops and members of the Guerrero Unidos cartel, for which the prosecution has tried to underline the role of the soldiers in Iguala decipher and their relationship with the organized crime group. The students' parents protested against the lack of transparency and willingness of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) to explain the military's actions.
The Undersecretary of Human Rights and President of CoVAJ, Arturo Medina Padilla, expressed in a statement that he disagrees with the judge's decision to release the eight soldiers. “Once again, members of the judiciary resort to the so-called Sabadazos procedure without taking into account the rights of the victims, mothers and fathers of the missing teenagers in a matter that involves serious human rights violations,” the statement said. Medina Padilla has pointed out that in the new court order “these elements of the armed forces are not excused from the charges, but that a trial will continue until the appropriate judgment is reached.”
In recent weeks, the families of the 43 students have had disagreements with the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The government offered the parents to open the files containing the evidence in the case to their eyes only. However, when the relatives requested the assistance of a group of experts sent to Mexico by the IACHR to examine these documents, the government refused. Furthermore, much of the division between the current government and the students' families stems from the Mexican army's need to produce documents and evidence that the armed forces have repeatedly denied. A rejection supported by López Obrador.
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