Oaxacan political prisoners released after nine years without conviction

After the judge postponed the hearing last week, supporters worked to ensure that no excuses could be made to delay Thursday’s ruling.

CODY COPELAND / September 28, 2023

MEXICO CITY (CN) — Activists for a group of five men held in prison under Mexico’s mandatory pretrial detention mechanism for almost nine years received bittersweet news Thursday when a judge announced that two of the men were to be released.

Oaxaca state Judge Luis Salvador Cordero ordered that Jaime Betanzos and Herminio Monfil be removed from mandatory pretrial detention during a hearing that lasted more than five hours.

“We are very happy for their release,” said Argelia Betanzos, daughter of Jaime Betanzos, in a video streamed from outside the courthouse in Huautla de Jiménez, Oaxaca. “But as you might be able to tell, in our hearts we miss our other three companions.

Three others in a group of political prisoners from nearby Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón — Alfredo Bolaños, Francisco Durán and Fernando Gavito — remain under the preventive measure. Two others who were arrested on the same charges last May also remain in mandatory pretrial detention.

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Mexico is the only country in the Western Hemisphere with such a broad automatic preventive measure as its mandatory pretrial detention. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled earlier this year that it violates human rights.

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