Formal prison for Mario Marín for the torture of journalist Lydia Cacho

Mario Marín, during the Meeting of Governors in Ixtapán de la Sal in 2006 Social Networks

A judge has formally imprisoned the former governor of Puebla Mario Marín, accused of ordering the torture and illegal detention of journalist Lydia Cacho in 2005. Marín was arrested on February 3 in Acapulco (Guerrero) and was later transferred to a prison in Cancun Quintana Roo).

The former governor had asked the judge for house arrest, however it was denied, so he will have to face the judicial process against him from jail.

This will be the first case of a senior government official to be brought to court for a crime of torture to impede the freedom of expression of a journalist.

Cacho had denounced in his book

a network of child sexual exploitation in which he mentioned the businessmen Jean Succar Kuri and Kamel Nacif as responsible.

The journalist was arrested and tortured by the Puebla Prosecutor's Office accused of defamation, in an action ordered by the then governor.

Marín's involvement was discovered by the publication of a recording in 2006 in which the former governor guaranteed impunity to Nacif.

In that call, the businessman called him 'precious góber', which is why the politician was known by that nickname ever since.

The then governor promised in the conversation to “give the journalist his slap” for bothering the businessman.

The journalist was transferred from Quintana Roo to Puebla in a 20-hour journey by road, during which she was tortured and threatened with death by the judicial agents.

Justice has also launched a search for those who participated in Cacho's arrest, including the former head of the Puebla Judicial Police Adolfo Karam.

After hearing the

, the former governor remained unpunished for more than a decade and the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) refused to start a trial against him while he was still in charge of the Government of Puebla.

In 2019, the United Nations demanded that the Mexican government begin legal proceedings against those responsible for the torture of Cacho.

"Justice will not be full until he is convicted and together with him, all those responsible have been brought to justice and punished," said the organization Article 19, after the judge's decision.

Cacho has lived the last 15 years escaping death threats against her, she has even taken refuge abroad on several occasions.

He currently lives in Spain, where he received the news of Marín's arrest.

"This is not a personal war against a handful of powerful criminals, it is a battle of Mexican society against commercial sexual exploitation of children, money laundering and attacks against the press," he wrote in this newspaper after the arrest of the politician.