Maximino García @ Prodh.org
On 4 March there was held a visit by a delegation from the Foundation of the General Council of Spanish Attorneys (CAEG) to the rights-defender Maximino García Catarino, who finds himself imprisoned since 21 January 2012 in the Center for Social Readaptation (CERESO) in Ayutla de Los Libres, Guerrero.
José María Prat Sabat, lawyer and patron of the CAEG, declared that “there is no reason why the Mexican State should keep him in prison,” considering that it is “unjust.” He added that “there are documents that certify that he was not at the site of the murder.” The delegation met with Maximino, who was worried for his situation, “above all because he is a youth who has three daughters, the eldest 7 years of age and the others 4 and 2, whom he must provide for. Imprisoned, he cannot do this,” noted Prat Sabat.
This conclusion was reached in light of the various irregularities that were presented at the time of the arrest and the evidence that demonstrates that the day on which the crime that García Catarino is accused was committed, he found himself doing communal work in the city of Ayutla. This was confirmed from the records of the work-schedule of the Registrar for Indigenous Affairs, according to the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights. This center has insisted on defending Maximino, given that “the accusation against the Na Savi defender is not only legally unsustainable but also demonstrates that in Ayutla the rule of harassment and illegitimate use of systems of justice.”
It should be noted that the defender has also received the director of the Commission in Defense of the Human Rights of the State (CODDEHUM), beyond applauding the public communiqués of the Network of Civil Organizations of Human Rights “All Rights for All,” and visits by international organizations like Frontline Defenders, Amnesty International, and the World Organization against Torture, who jointly have denounced the arbitrary detention of the Mixteco defender.
For more information (in Spanish):
Visitan abogados españoles al dirigente indígena de la OFPM preso en Ayutla (Sur de Acapulco, 5 March 2012)
Visita delegación de la Fundación del Consejo de la Abogacía Española a Maximino García Catarino (Cencos, 5 March 2012)
Exige Coddehum respeto a la integridad personal de líder de la OFPM, preso en Ayutla (Prensa Libre Guerrero, 27 February 2012)
Vigilará Coddehum caso de defensor Na Savi que se realice con apego a la legalidad (Diario de Iguala Guerrero, 27 February 2012)
Recibe Maximino García Catarino visita de la Comisión de Defensa de Derechos Humanos del Estado de Guerrero en el penal de Ayutla (Tlachinollan, 26 February 2012)
Denunciará Tlachinollan violaciones a los derechos humanos de Maximino García (La Jornada Guerrero, 20 February 2012)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Guerrero: OFPM activist is detained despite having precautionary measures (27 de enero de 2012)
Guerrero: briefs – Attack on OPFM leader (3 September 2011)
Guerrero: Leader of the OFPM liberated (25 June 2011)
sipazen.wordpress.com 