Almost seven years after the assassination of Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola (Finnish) in April 2010 in the Triqui area of Oaxaca when they participated in a humanitarian caravan, and in the context of their tenth visit to Mexico seeking clarification, MEP Ska Keller (Germany) and Satu Hassi, a parliamentarian from Finland stated that “Seven years is a long time to clear up a homicide”, and that “This makes distrust in the will of the authorities grow. After so many years the resolution of the case is a very distant idea.”
Both legislators stressed that in all their visits, they have heard promises from various public officials both in Oaxaca and at the federal level but that they are still not being implemented. “The new governor of Oaxaca [Alejandro Murat, who received them in a private meeting] assured us that he will solve the murder and do justice, but what we want is to see how that commitment translates into concrete actions. The commitment is very important, but we do not know how they will show it with deeds“, said Ska Keller in an interview with La Jornada.
They recalled that of the alleged perpetrators of the murder, one is already dead, eight are released and five are in prison without sentence; two of the key witnesses who were present at the events were threatened; the lawyer of the accused is also the interpreter of the families of the victims; and the case is based in Huajuapan in the same Triqui region, so it is unsafe for witnesses.
In a press conference, the parliamentarians clarified that “we come here not only to solve the crime of a citizen of Finland but to help break the circle of impunity. In these visits we learned a lot about the serious human rights violations committed in Mexico and it is incredible and it is very sad because we believe that breaking impunity is the key to development and should be in the interest of this whole country.”
For more information in Spanish:
“Remota”, la justicia para activistas asesinadas en Oaxaca hace siete años: parlamentaria finlandesa (Proceso, 23 de febrero de 2017)
Hay omisión en caso de activistas asesinados en San Juan Copala, Oaxaca: Eurodiputadas (NVI Noticias, 24 de febrero de 2017)
Eurodiputadas piden a Peña Nieto menos palabras y más hechos para terminar círculo de impunidad (Página3,mx, 25 de febrero de 2016)
Pendiente, la justicia para Bety Cariño y Jyri Jaakkola (La Jornada, 26 de febrero de 2017)
For more information from SIPAZ:
Oaxaca/Internacional : Suman 5 detenidos en el caso del asesinato de Bety Cariño y Jyri Jaakkola (2010) (15 de octubre de 2016)
Oaxaca: PGR archiva el caso del asesinato de Bety Cariño y Jyri Jaakkola (28 de abril de 2016)
Oaxaca: Gobierno del estado no recibe a eurodiputadas por “falta de voluntad” hacia el caso de Bety y Jyri (2 de octubre de 2015)
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