Nestora Salgado Garcia leaving prison. Photo: @Eduardo Miranda
After two years and seven months in detention, Nestora Salgado Garcia, who was a commander of the Community Police (la Policía Comunitaria – PC) in Olinala, Guerrero, has been released. Having obtained an order for formal release on the three main charges against her, last month she was informed that she was accused of three more charges: kidnapping, homicide, and theft. After an innocent ruling by judges on these accusations, she left prison in the PC uniform, in the company of relatives, community members and sympathizers.
It’s worth remembering that the commander was detained in August 2013 during a heavy-handed operation that included the participation of different police and army bodies. Following this, Salgado Garcia was imprisoned at the high security installation at Tepic, Nayarit, from where she was moved to the medical center at the Women’s Prison at Tepepan after a hunger strike demanding her freedom.
Since 2012, Olinala created its own Community Police after the appearance of organized crime and a lack of faith in the efficacy of the official justice system. It should be noted that the PC is based on ruling systems – the rules of traditional behavior which govern indigenous peoples in Guerrero – and are focused on the re-education of lawbreakers through community work as opposed to punishment and imprisonment. This system is recognized by the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (Organización Internacional del Trabajo – OIT), and Law 701 for Recognition, Rights and Culture of the Indigenous Peoples and Communities of the State of Guerrero.
After her release, Nestor declared that she would continue the struggle for the release of political prisoners in Guerrero and throughout Mexico. To do this, she called for the initiation of a campaign for the release of the estimated 500 people in the country denied their freedom for political reasons.
For more information in Spanish:
Liberan a Nestora Salgado, este viernes sale de prisión (Desinformémonos, 17 de marzo de 2016)
Nestora Salgado, libre (Proceso, 18 de marzo de 2016)
Nestora Salgado sale libre luego de dos años y medio en prisión (Animal Político, 18 de marzo de 2016)
Soy libre y es la libertad del pueblo”: Nestora Salgado (La Jornada, 18 de marzo de 2016)
“Yo soy la voz del pueblo”: Nestora Salgado llama a liberación de presos políticos (SDP Noticias, 18 de marzo de 2016)
For more information from SIPAZ:
Guerrero: Tras órdenes de libertad, notifican otros tres cargos en contra de Nestora Salgado (17 de marzo de 2016)
Nacional/Guerrero: Exhorta ONU al gobierno mexicano a liberar a Nestora Salgado (24 de febrero de 2016)
Guerrero/Nacional: Nestora Salgado levanta su huelga de hambre (6 de junio de 2015)
sipazen.wordpress.com 