In what is being hailed as a victory for justice, a court in Mexico has sentenced a former mayor, Jose Luis Abarca, to 92 years in prison for his involvement in the kidnapping of six civil society leaders in 2013. The court also imposed a fine of 920,700 pesos (approximately $52,000 USD) on Abarca for his role in the abductions that occurred in the southern state of Guerrero, in the city of Iguala.
One of the six victims, Arturo Hernandez Cardona, an agricultural leader, was later found dead. Abarca is also implicated in Mexico’s infamous 2014 human rights atrocity, the disappearance of 43 students during his tenure as mayor of Iguala. He was ultimately arrested that same year and is currently held in a prison in central Mexico.
The students – who had commandeered buses to attend a protest in Mexico City – were taken into custody by corrupt police officers and delivered to a drug cartel. While the fate of the students remains contested, there is evidence to suggest that cartel members targeted them because they had unknowingly taken a bus containing drugs.
Last year, a commission appointed by the government and charged with examining the students’ case branded it a “state crime,” implicating individuals from various institutions, and bringing some form of closure to one of Mexico’s most baffling and disturbing crimes.
This verdict marks a momentous victory for the relatives of the victims, who have spent years struggling with the trauma of the abductions. The sentencing of a high-ranking public official highlights the resolve of the Mexican government to combat corruption and hold those in positions of power accountable for their crimes.
Sources: Punch, AFP
