@Voces Feministas
On February 6th, the defender Kenia Hernandez Montalvan received a conviction for the alleged crime of robbery with violence against the company Concesionaria Mexiquense. She still has more cases open against her since, in addition to robbery and robbery with violence (which are local), she was accused in the following months by the Guerrero and Guanajuato Prosecutor’s Offices of obstructing communication channels, which corresponds to the federal orbit. These accusations would be linked to her political activity in favor of political prisoners, indigenous people and women, protests that she carried out at highway toll booths.
Before this first sentence, Kenia Hernandez accused the federal government and that of the State of Mexico of turning her into a “political prisoner”. “I know that it is an attempt by the Federal Government, by the Government of the State of Mexico; a conspiracy between private companies, the Federal Government and the State of Mexico Prosecutor’s Office for knocking down a Human Rights Defender and for wanting to see me on the floor”, she declared in a public letter.
The Zeferino Ladrillero Human Rights Center, in charge of her defense, recalled that the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) called on the authorities to seek due process for the defender, who has held at least two hunger strikes inside the prison to demand that she be allowed to see her relatives, her legal defense and that she be treated with dignity. It is also worth mentioning that members of the Senate spoke in her favor and joined the demand for her freedom.
On another note, at least a dozen social organizations considered that with this sentence “the use of the judicial system to fabricate crimes and criminalize human rights defenders is again evident.” “The Mexican State intends to continue with its policy of repression and to criminalize protest. Kenia Hernandez is innocent and was convicted just for raising her voice, she was put in prison as an example of exemplary punishment for those who protest”, they declared.
For more information in Spanish:
Condenan a defensora Kenia Hernández, primera sentencia condenatoria de siete procesos (Voces feministas, 10 de febrero de 2022)
Declaran culpable a Kenia Hernández por robo con violencia; es injusto y apelará, anuncia (El Sur, 9 de febrero de 2022)
Activista Kenia Hernández recibe sentencia condenatoria (MVS Noticias, 8 de febrero de 2022)
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