Human Rights Violations - Guerrero Students: State Attorney General defends detaining 2 police as suspects while releasing 10 others

Milenio: The head of the State Attorney General's Office (PGJE), Juan Manuel Herrera defended the extension of the detention for the two ministerial police implicated in the case of the death of two students of the Ayotzinapa Normal School on December 12 of last year.

The ten police released on Sunday are still under investigation because the case is still open. The extension granted by the judge of the first criminal court, Leoncio Molina Mercado, was because the attorney general is initiating criminal proceedings against the two policemen, Rey David Cortes Flores and Ismael Matadama Salinas.

He explained that the extension of the detention was undertaken because it was close to the expiration time of the original detention and the two police would have had to be released. So he had to act according to the provisions of the applicable legal standard. He said that if the judge granted the extension, it is because his office provided the required elements to keep Cortes Flores and  Matadama Salinas in custody.

... Regarding the six state protective police and four ministerial police released on Sunday, he said they are not fully exempt, as the case remains open, and they are free at the discretion of the law.

He explained that besides the murder there are other situations that are going to be punished, because on December 12 some agents deliberately altered the crime scene, which will definitely bring legal consequences. He said that in the case there will be no impunity, which is the issue raised by the Ayotzinapa students in their recurring demonstrations.

... He admitted that the police did not act according to protocols for such matters, but noted that the responsibilities will be broken down in detail." Spanish original