In Mexico's Justice System, Guilt, Rather Than Innocence, is Presumed Denise Dresser - Reforma
go to original August 15, 2013

Presumed Guilty Trailer (povborders)

A couple of years ago, in the award winning documentary "Presumed Guilty", two lawyers with a camera, Roberto Hernandez and Layda Negrete, portrayed the rotteness of the police, the incompetence of the Public Ministry [agency that includes investigative police and prosecutors], the injustice of the judges and the arbitrariness of arrest. They showed that in Mexico people are apprehended without evidence and convicted without witnesses. In Mexico, one is condemned although there is reasonable doubt about guilt and reason to question it. In Mexico an innocent person is obligated to prove that he is innocent.

How could one forget the phrases that the film showed us: "It was you". "Don't play stupid." "Don't say anything, you bastard". "I caught you, and you're fucked." Words that are pronounced routinely by investigative police in arresting any ordinary Mexican. Words that run against that fundamental principle of rule of law which is the presumption of innocence. Words that reveal a police and penal system dedicated to imprisoning the innocent, manufacturing guilt, covering up injustices.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

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