On 25 January, Francisco Sántiz López, a support-base for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), was released from Cerss nº5 in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, after having been incarcerated since 4 December 2011 for the charge of carrying a firearm. The release takes place after the intervention of the Unitary Tribunal of the Twentieth Circuit, which demanded that the judge resolve the juridical situation of the prisoner within 24 hours, due to lack of evidence against him.
Sántiz López observed that he never committed any crime, and that the charge had been fabricated by a judge in Tenejapa. “First they accused me of order, and then I was released on bail, but then I was held on the charge of carrying a firearm,” he declared upon leaving the prison. Three months after having been incarcerated, Sántiz López was exonerated by the judge, but due to a new accusation on the part of the Federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR), he was held anew in the prison in San Cristóbal.
For more information (in Spanish):
Tras 13 meses encarcelado, liberan por falta de pruebas a tzeltal acusado de homicidio (La Jornada, 26 de enero de 2013)
Queda en libertad Francisco Sántiz, zapatista preso desde hace dos años (Proceso, 25 de enero de 2013)
Liberan a reo zapatista preso desde hace un año (El Universal, 25 de enero de 2013)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Chiapas: Federal protection afforded to Francisco Sántiz López (15 January 2013)
Chiapas: Oventic JBG once again demands the liberation of Francisco Sántiz López (17 June 2012)
Chiapas: CDHFBC publishes more information on the Banavil case (9 February 2012)
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