Alberto Patishtán, photo @Marco Peláez, La Jornada
On 31 October, after 13 years of unjust imprisonment, Alberto Patishtán was released and celebrated his freedom with his family, friends, and comrades, after having received an official pardon from President Enrique Peña Nieto. After receiving the document notifying him that he would benefit from this measure, the Tsotsil indigenous man left the clinic in which he found himself at the time. Gabriela Patishtán Ruiz, Patishtán’s daughter, said that “the struggle which many different organizations and persons have carried out since his unjust arrest has borne fruit.” Accompanied by his children and grandchildren, the professor in a press-conference declared that “They wanted to close off my light, make it rest–but what happened is that it was multiplied, though they wanted to cover it up. My struggle illuminated.”
Following the release of the Tsotsil professor, the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights released a press-bulletin expressing that the pardon is not sufficient justice for Patishtán. Among other things, the document demands a public apology from the State and comprehensive reparations for the damages incurred by the Tsotsil professor and his family. During the afternoon of the same day, there was held a protest in Mexico City to publicly recognize the innocence of Alberto Patishtán.
Patishtán had spent 13 years and four months imprisoned as part of a 60-year sentence after he was accused of participating in the killing of six police during an ambush which took place in El Bosque municipality, Chiapas, in 2000.
For more information (in Spanish):
Ordenan libertad inmediata de Alberto Patishtán (Proceso, 31 de octubre de 2013)
Salí a defender a mi pueblo y me mandaron a la cárcel: Patishtán (La Jornada, 31 de octubre de 2013)
Video: Fui encarcelado por defender a mi pueblo: Alberto Patishtan (Telesur)
Lucha de organizaciones por libertad de Patishtán dio frutos, asegura su hija (La Jornada, 30 de octubre de 2013)
Boletín Centro de derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas (31 de octubre de 2013)
Los riesgos en el indulto de Patishtán (Chiapas Paralelo, 1 de noviembre de 2013)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Legal initiative for Amnesty for Alberto Patishtán (4 October 2013)
Chiapas: Rejection of recognition of Patishtán’s innocence. “There is a look of denigration toward the indigenous sector,” says lawyer (4 October 2013)
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