NGOs and Family Members Demand Release of All of Mexico's Political Prisoners Jose Antonio Roman - La Jornada
go to original May 14, 2015

This 2009 file family photo provided by Grisel Rodriguez shows Nestora Salgado, who has been detained since she was arrested Aug. 21, 2013 in the state of Guerrero, south of Mexico City, where she had been leading a vigilante group targeting police corruption and drug cartel violence. (AP Photo/Grisel Rodriguez)

The health of Nestora Salgado García, already poor, is showing "significant deterioration" as a result of the hunger strike she began on May 5 in demand of her immediate release. Salgado García, a Community Police leader in the municipality of Olinalá, Guerrero, has been held in the maximum security prison in Tepic, Nayarit, since August 2013. Her lawyer, Leonel Rivero, says that his client "is willing to continue [her hunger strike] to the ultimate consequences".

Rivero said that his client's detention is due to an "obvious political interest" and that numerous violations of her human rights have been committed in the course of the judicial process. In addition, the federal and Guerrero [state] governments have not kept their promise to review the case. Rivero asserted that prosecutor Miguel Ángel Godínez Muñoz "is committed to covering up his predecessors' dirty work".

At a press conference, Nestora Salgado's family members, the wives of Arturo Campos and Gonzalo Molina, leaders of the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities [CRAC] held in Almoloya Prison [state of Mexico, borders Mexico City], and representatives of civic organizations reported on each case, then demanded the release of all political prisoners. Moreover, they asserted that the "systematic violation" of human rights exists in the country.

They explained that on Wednesday, Arturo Campos and Gonzalo Medina, from the Guerrero municipalities of Ayitla and Tixtla, respectively, will join the Nestora Salgado's hunger strike, in solidarity and in order to demand their own immediate release.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

Mexico Voices is a blogging endeavor aimed at raising the awareness of U.S. citizens regarding the destructive impact of the U.S. economic policy and the War on Drugs on Mexico — on its people, their economic and physical security and their human rights, on the nation’s dysfunctional justice system, and on the rule of law and Mexico’s fragile democracy. Visit the website at MexicoVoices.blogspot.mx

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