The Government of Mexico began with the first phase of the release of elderly prisoners in the country’s jails, as it announced that on September 15, 2021, 681 people will be pre-released, who will have to finish serving their sentence under house arrest, that is, at home.
Adán Augusto López Hernández, Secretary of the Interior (Segob), informed in a press conference, that the Mexican Government made arrangements with judges, as well as with the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, and the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic, in order to expedite the procedures for the release of 681 people, in:
- Baja California: 63
- Baja California Sur: 10
- Chiapas: 198
- Mexico City: 40
- Colima: 13
- Durango: 100
- Nayarit: 30
- Oaxaca: 48
- Prevention and Social Rehabilitation: 36
- San Luis Potosí: 7
- Sinaloa: 15
- Tabasco: 12
- Tlaxcala: 2
- Veracruz: 50
- Zacatecas: 57
They have to comply with certain conditions, such as:
- Adults over 65 years of age with chronic degenerative diseases who have not committed serious crimes. The Secretary of Health will carry out the diagnosis.
- Adults over 70 who have been tortured and verified by the Istanbul Protocol (the Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2000).
- Indigenous people, who at the time did not have an adequate defense.
- Those who have been in pretrial detention or without sentence for 2 years or more.
However, those who are being prosecuted for crimes against the free development of the personality, human trafficking, organized crime, kidnapping, or other offenses that merit official pretrial detention will not be eligible for the benefit of pre-release.
Although the processing of the 681 persons has already advanced, there are 4,233 files of persons sentenced or in pretrial detention that were subject to analysis at the federal level and were delivered to the competent judges, the Judiciary Council, the Public Defender’s Institute and the Attorney General’s Office, according to each case.
After that, each case has to be resolved so that the elderly can be released from prison and finish paying their sentence at home, under house arrest.
As of September 14, 2021, two governments have already presented their agreements to initiate the pre-release process and are already eligible to access the benefit, that is, they can be released as of said date, one day before the rest (September 15); the specific case is Chiapas with 180 people and Mexico City with 40.
So it was announced
Read the original version in Spanish here.
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POB/LFJ
