Image @ Blog of Alberto Patishtan
The family of professor Alberto Patishtán Gómez has requested that the Supreme Court for Justice in the Nation (SCJN) review his case and recognize his innocence, taking into account the numerous irregularities in the process that led to the Tzotzil indigenous man to be imprisoned 12 years ago. This new juridical strategy is based in the intent to recognize Patishtán’s innocence, as is established in article 560 of the code of penal procedures, which indicates that this is possible based upon on new public documents.
Víctor Hugo López, director of the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Center for Human Rights (CDHFBC), indicated that on 11 September the children and lawyer for Patishtán Gómez, Leonel Rivero, met with the Arturo Zaldívar, president of the primary court of the SCJN, to request that the maximum tribunal in the country take on the case.
The CDHFBC representative said that “We have the the expectation that this could be accepted and receive a favorable response, although in any case this would not mean that we would suspend our process with the IACHR, because before this organism we do not only request the freedom of the professor but also the reparations for damages incurred, so that this type of juridical irregularity not happen again.”
With this new juridical action, the SCJN will have a unique opportunity to do justice, given that it is a case which for nearly half a year has been supported by thousands of organizations, collectives, persons, and communities who have been supporting several different global campaigns. Besides, days of fasting and prayer have been carried out by different parishes in the San Cristóbal de Las Casas diocese and on 4 September, the Believing People organized a pilgrimage for the case of Alberto Patishtán.
For more information (in Spanish):
Familiares de Alberto Patishtán solicitan a la SCJN atraiga el caso del profesor indígena (La Jornada, 13 de septiembre de 2012)
Convocatoria a la Conferencia de Prensa (Frayba, 11 de septiembre de 2012)
Organizaciones civiles exigirán a la Suprema Corte revisar el caso de Patishtán (EDUCA, 28 de agosto de 2012)
Acción Urgente: 12 años de injusticias, ¡Liberen a Alberto Patishtán!(Red TdT, 27 de agosto de 2012)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Chiapas: pilgrimage of the Believing People to demand the release of Alberto Patishtán (18 September 2012)
Chiapas: Return of professor Patishtán to Cereso no. 5 (16 August 2012)
Chiapas: Letter from Patishtán, 12 years following his imprisonment(10 July 2012)
Chiapas: Actions in favor of the liberation of Alberto Patishtán, 12 years after his incarceration (25 June 2012)
Chiapas: Some thousand persons march for the liberation of Alberto Patishtán (4 June 2012)
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