The twelve Mexican political prisoners seized in the aftermath of the 2006 Atenco uprising have been released following a sensational high court ruling. Judges ruled that not only was there no evidence to sustain the prosecution’s case but also that the charges the twelve faced – organised kidnapping – didn’t even exist in Mexican law.
The victory was celebrated by activists in Mexico and around the world who have relentlessly campaigned for justice over the last four years. Outside the courthouse, Trini del Valle, wife of one of the prisoners, Ignacio del Valle, told the gathered crowd from the Popular Front in Defence of the Land (FPDT) and the Justice and Peace Committee for Atenco, “I see tears of happiness in the eyes of my compañeros and I would like to say thank you to everyone, thank you to the Mexican people and international solidarity. The federal and state governments are not invincible!”
The announcement of the ruling led to an impromptu town festival, while hundreds of locals and activists established a vigil outside the prison holding Ignacio del Valle Medina, Felipe Álvarez and Héctor Galind. There, they waited for the release of the prisoners behind a giant banner proclaiming “Welcome, compañeros, to your town”.
As the High Court judges assembled on Tuesday 29th June, international campaigners staged solidarity demos in Spain, Germany, the US, New Zealand and Britain. In London, activists from across the UK assembled outside the Mexican embassy and leafleted passers-by while blasting out Mexican revolutionary tunes (see our previous article).
Published by Schnews