Federal prosecutors in Mexico say they have arrested the attorney general from Mexico’s previous administration on charges of torture, official misconduct, and forced disappearance. They have also issued arrest warrants for 20 army officers, five local officials, 33 local police officers, 11 state police, and 14 gang members.
Eight years after being abducted, the bodies of 43 former students have never been found, and the motive for the abduction remains unclear. The investigation into the case has included instances of torture, improper arrest, mishandling of evidence, and the military was aware of the kidnapping.
Jesús Murillo Karam served as attorney general from 2012 to 2015, under then President Enrique Peña Nieto. The current attorney general’s office, Alejandro Gertz Manero, said Murillo Karam was charged with torture, official misconduct, and forced disappearance.
The students were part of a group that was frequently critical of the state and its lack of action against corruption. In 2014 around the time they disappeared, it is thought that one of the buses they commandeered to make a protest was carrying a large quantity of drugs for Guerreros Unidos, a group of murderous drug traffickers. This caused the municipal police to arrest the students and hand them over to the gang.
In 2020, Gertz Manero said Murillo Karam had been implicated in “orchestrating a massive media trick” and leading a “generalized cover-up” in the case.
The army was allowed to refer soldiers accused of wrongdoing to separate military courts, but now they must be tried in civilian courts if their offenses involved civilians.
Mexican prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for several people, including Tomás Zeron, the head of Mexico’s detective agency. Zeron fled to Israel, and Mexico has asked the Israeli government for help.
The motive for the students’ abduction remains a subject of debate. Murillo Karam claimed the students were turned over to a drug cartel who killed them and tossed their bodies into a river.
In an instance of proof by the most extreme circumstances, their deaths were a direct result of state-assisted drug trafficking and criminal conspiracy. In this case, there was no difference between the police, their superiors, and the gangsters.
For more on this story, please consider these sources:
- Mexico arrests attorney general in Ayotzinapa student disappearances The Washington Post
- Mexico arrests ex-attorney general in missing students case The Associated Press
- The disappearance of 43 students was a ‘state crime,’ Mexico’s president says NBC News
- Mexico’s ex-attorney general arrested over disappearance of 43 students in 2014 The Guardian
- Mexico officials arrest ex-attorney general, dozens of cops, soldiers in case of 43 missing students New York Post