Mexican Judge Orders Release of Most Jailed Inauguration Day Protesters EFE
go to original December 10, 2012

Relatives greet a man Sunday who was ordered released along with 54 other people by a Mexican judge who found insufficient evidence to prosecute them for the disturbances that occurred during the Dec. 1 inauguration of President Enrique Peña Nieto. (EFE/STR)

MEXICO CITY - A judge dropped all charges and ordered the release over the weekend of 55 of the 69 people arrested in connection with the protests earlier this month in Mexico City that caused extensive damage.

Judge Maria del Carmen Patricia Mora Brito found no grounds to charge the protesters, La Liga de Abogados Primero de Diciembre attorney Julio Jesus Robles Maloof told Efe.

Fourteen other people - 13 men and a woman - are still being held at Mexico City's Reclusorio Norte prison and at the Santa Marta Women's Prison.

The suspects face vandalism and other charges for their roles in the Dec. 1 protests against the inauguration of President Enrique Peña Nieto, officials said.

Television news reports showed images of police brutality against the protesters, many of them young people who have been identified publicly by their families and defended as non-violent individuals.

The Federal District Human Rights Commission, or CDHDF, released a report in which it cited "consistent information on 22 cases of people who were arbitrarily arrested" by Mexico City police and of four people who were tortured by officers.

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