Statement From the Press Conference for the Liberty of Roberto Paciencia Cruz

Translated and Submitted to It’s Going Down

To the councils of good government

To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation

To the National Indigenous Congress

To the Sixth

To the free, alternative, and autonomous media

To whoever has a heart that beats below and to the left

Roberto Paciencia Cruz is an Indigenous Tzostil compañero of 33 years of age. He is from the community of Majompepentic, municipality of Chanlhó, Chiapas, and is an adherent of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandona Jungle.

He was detained on August 7^th, 2013 by the preventive or sectorial police in the municipality of Pantelhó, Chiapas and transported to Tuxtla Gutiérrez. There he was deprived of his liberty for three days during which he was physically and psychologically tortured so that he would sign a false declaration of self-incrimination. Afterwards he was moved to the Centro Estatal de Reinserción Social de Sentenciados (CERSSS) no. 5 in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, where he is currently being held. He still has not received a sentence.

Roberto is a prisoner of struggle. His case is a living example of the Mexican Judicial System that is racist and corrupt and that fills its prisons with poor and indigenous people. The compañero has utilized his voice to denounce the injustices that are experienced by the incarcerated population where he is being held. For example, the lack of medical attention, the bad water, the scarcity and bad quality of food and the deprivation of their visitors as a form of isolation.

We demand the liberty of Roberto given the approaching verdict of the judge, which has a deadline on the 26^th of this month, and being that he has been unjustly incarcerated for three years. The innocence of our compañero has been demonstrated by legal means on various occasions. The only witness has not once appeared to any of the various summonses. On the contrary, there are witnesses that declare that Roberto was not present in the place and time of which the acts that he has been falsely accused were committed. Furthermore, the authorities committed multiple violations of the due process from the moment of his detention. In addition, there was a promise made by the governor Manuel Velasco Coello to liberate compañero Roberto and to move compañero Alejandro Díaz Santís of the CEFERESO of Villa Comaltitlán to the CERRS no. 5. This was in the context of the mobilizations that took place during the visit of Pope Francis.

Because of all of this, we denounce the injustice of the deprivation of freedom of Roberto Paciencia and we call on you to remain attentive to the judicial resolution in the following days, demanding that they finally administer justice for our compañero.

Sincerely,

Family of Roberto Paciencia Cruz

Those in Solidarity of the Voz de Amate

Work Group “No Estamos Todxs”

Donate to help us grow and expand!