The eight soldiers accused of forced disappearance for 'the Ayotzinapa case' return to prison

Normalists protested outside military camp No. 1 for the disappearance of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa, in 2023.Quetzalli Nicte Ha

The eight soldiers accused of the forced disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who were released last week will return to prison.

A federal court issued the corresponding arrest warrants this Thursday, thus finalizing the order of a district judge of the State of Mexico who, on January 21, allowed the soldiers to continue the judicial process, still underway, on conditional release. .

The lawyer for the members of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) has assured the press that the eight will voluntarily present themselves to the authorities.

Gustavo Rodríguez de la Cruz, Omar Torres Marquillo, Juan Andrés Flores Lagunes, Ramiro Manzanares Sanabria, Roberto de los Santos Eduviges, Eloy Estrada Díaz, Uri Yashiel Reyes Lazos and Juan Sotelo Díaz, the eight defendants, were arrested in June 2023. The head of the second district court in federal criminal proceedings of Toluca, Raquel Ivette Duarte Cedillo, requested provisional detention for them for the crime of forced disappearance.

The crimes that the justice system accuses them of in this new arrest warrant are not known, but, according to a protected witness from the Attorney General's Office (FGR) cited by

La Jornada

, the soldiers had links with the criminal group Guerreros Unidos. .

The defense of the military asked on the 21st to change the provisional prison for a biweekly visit to the court, which was accepted by Duarte Cedillo herself, who also granted provisional freedom last August to another accused of the crime, General Rafael Hernández. .

In addition, the judge imposed as conditions the payment of a bail of 50,000 pesos, the retention of his passport and the prohibition of approaching witnesses and victims of the case, as well as avoiding going to the State of Guerrero.

Since the moment of their arrest in June, the soldiers had remained locked up in Military Camp 1-A, in Mexico City, where they will return after the new judicial decision.

Most of the eight soldiers held the rank of soldiers when the student attack occurred in 2014. They were all part of a Sedena convoy that patrolled through Iguala, the city where the normalistas were kidnapped, during and after the attack. .

The FGR presumes that his presence in the convoy responded to his proximity to the criminal group that over time became the main suspect, Guerreros Unidos.

The release of the eight soldiers triggered a new clash between the Judiciary and the Executive, two antagonists who have waged a long public battle in recent years.

“We are not surprised by the position of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (PJF) in the Ayotzinapa case.

Doing justice or finding the truth has never been one of his priorities.

On the contrary, it has dedicated itself to hindering and hindering the development of the process,” attacked a statement from the Ministry of the Interior published on the 22nd. “Once again the Judiciary uses procedural pretexts to set aside justice.

Covered in technicalities, they do not consider the rights of the victims to truth, justice and non-repetition,” he continued.

The Government's actions regarding the case in recent months have not, however, been free from criticism.

On the ninth anniversary of the attack, last September, the students' relatives demonstrated in the Zócalo of Mexico City in the midst of the breakdown of the relationship between the authorities and the relatives, who accuse the Executive of closing ranks with the Army.

The fathers and mothers of the victims demand hundreds of military espionage documents from the authorities.

Without them, they argue, the investigation is stagnant and without new threads to pull.

Sedena denies the existence of the files, despite the fact that the independent group of experts (GIEI) that has investigated the case affirms that they are in the possession of the military.

The GIEI ended up leaving Mexico in July, frustrated by the Army's resistance to providing information.

In early January, the victims' relatives met again with the presidential commission.

They demanded the return of the GIEI and, again, that the Army hand over the documents.

None of the requests were successful, which further aggravated the relationship between both parties and threatened to paralyze the investigation.

The case has become a tangle of competing interests with dozens of detainees and justice that moves slowly.

The truth is that the whereabouts of the missing students now seem almost impossible despite the obstinacy of their families.

Next September 26 will mark 10 years since the attack.

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