After more than two and a half years in prison, Miguel Ángel García and Víctor Hugo Martínez Toledo, activist from the Popular Assembly of the Communities of Oaxaca (APPO), were released from the Santa María Ixcotel jail on June 4th. Azael Santiago Chepi, secretary general of the 22nd section of the National Teacher’s Union (SNTE), spoke on the matter saying that the members of APPO had been “illegally detained in 2007” after accusations of gang rape were levied against them, although it was clear that their detention came as the result of their participation in the movement.
The two liberated men were accompanied by a large group of people to the central plaza of the City of Oaxaca where they joined the Sit-In of Family and Friends. The sit-in began on May 15th and is made of people from various organizations that are protesting for the release of members of their organizations. Two prisoners remain in Santa María Ixcotel: Pedro Castillo Aragón who has been accused of kidnapping and being part of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR), and Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno who has been implicated in the murder of the American cameraman Bradley Will.
For more information, please visit:
Two from the APPO accused of gang rape in 2007 released, La Jornada (05/06/2009)
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