Three men sentenced to 50 years for kidnapping are acquitted by the Supreme Court of Mexico

After seven years in prison, three Mexicans who had been sentenced to 50 years for the crime of kidnapping for an event that occurred in 2015 left prison after the vote in favor of their immediate release by 11 ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) of Mexico.

One hour after the failure of the Supreme Court of Mexico, Gonzalo García, Héctor Muñoz and Juan Luis López were received with tears, hugs, applause and cries for justice by friends, family and lawyers. At 3:08 p.m. local time (20:08 GMT), they crossed the gate of the Macuspana municipal prison, in the southeastern state of Tabasco.

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Now free, the three ex-prisoners have the same purpose: to enjoy their freedom, Christmas with the family and start over.

Three men await their release from prison on October 8, 2022, in the municipality of Macuspana, Tabasco state, Mexico. (Photo by Manuel López / EFE) (Manuel López /)

“We are legally innocent from the beginning, at this moment I want to enjoy my parents, my children, see freedom outside and start a new life, pretend that I am being born again”, Juan Luis López told the media upon his departure.

They say that during the days of the decision that the Mexican Supreme Court left on hold, they did not sleep, but they were always sure of their innocence.

“The truth is, we didn’t even know what it was to fall asleep because you can’t sleep and you know that as good things could happen, so can bad things”, Héctor Muñoz told EFE.

For the lawyers who took the case for free, what happened in procedural matters “It’s a holiday” that sets a precedent and sends a message in the way authorities investigate, prosecute, and deliver justice in criminal matters.

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“For me there is no reasonable doubt, for me there is complete certainty that the events never occurred and that these boys should not even have been prosecuted for these events,” opined Iker Ibarreche, defense attorney.

Next year, the relatives will consider calling to account the justice authorities of the state of Tabasco who led the trial of 2015 and 2018, the ex-governor Arturo Núñez, the prosecutor Fernando Valenzuela and Jorge Priego, president of the Superior Court of Justice.

“They have to pay, justice has to be done”, raised María García, mother of Juan Luis.

The now ex-convicts were arrested in June 2015 after a traffic incident in the municipality of Macuspana, Tabasco, in which the other person involved, a rancher, whose name is withheld, claimed that they had tried to kidnap him.

Three men await their release from prison on October 8, 2022, in the municipality of Macuspana, Tabasco state, Mexico. (Photo by Manuel López / EFE)

The 11 ministers of the court in Mexico They met three times and this Thursday at 1:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. GMT) they unanimously cast their vote in favor of the “plain and simple” amparo and an hour and a half later they were released.

The amparo for freedom was presented by Minister Alfredo Gutiérrez in favor of the defendants Gonzalo García, Héctor Muñoz and Juan Luis López, in jail since 2015 and sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2018.

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The ministers of the Supreme Court of Mexico determined that the authorities of the Mexican state of Tabasco (General Attorney of Justice and Superior Court of Justice) violated the right to the presumption of innocence and sentenced the defendants without evidence against them.

García, Muñoz and López are originally from the Mexican state of Tabasco, they were sentenced to 50 years in prison, of which seven years and six months (2,731 days in prison) were served in the Macuspana municipal prison.

The story inspired the short film ‘Reasonable doubt’, released by the Netflix digital platform in November 2021.

Source: Elcomercio