Mexico City | Desinformémonos.
A federal judge ordered the Morelos prosecutor’s office to hand over the investigation file on the murder of Nahua defender and communicator Samir Flores, so that the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Attention to Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) can take charge of the case because “there are sufficient elements to establish that what caused the homicide could derive from his work as a broadcaster in the Community Radio Amiltzinko 100.7 Fm”.
The judge’s resolution was announced after the hearing on jurisdiction by inhibitory jurisdiction that the FEADLE requested after the Morelos Prosecutor’s Office refused since June to hand over the investigation file so that the agency could take over the case. The federal judge issued an inhibitory request to the control judge of Cuautla and dictated 24 hours to forward the file to the federal authority.
Samir Flores Soberanes was murdered on February 20, 2019 outside his home in Amilcingo, for being one of the most visible faces in the struggle of the Nahua people against the Morelos Integral Project (PIM), and especially against the Huexca thermoelectric plant. As part of his struggle, Flores ran the Amiltzinko 100.7 Fm Community Radio station, where he informed the communities about the violations of their rights by the megaproject.
“The FEADLE itself pointed out in a hearing that one of the main witnesses, who was present when Samir’s murder was planned, claimed that it was said there that he would be killed because he was a radio broadcaster who had to be silenced,” explained Juan Carlos Flores, lawyer for the Peoples’ Front in Defense of Land and Water (FPDTA) Morelos Puebla Tlaxcala.
At the beginning of August, the FPDTA launched a petition on the change.org platform addressed to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) for the FEADLE to investigate the Flores murder, because despite the fact that the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic had already determined its authority to take on the case, the Morelos prosecutor’s office refused to hand over the investigation file.
Original article published in Desinformemonos on August 18th, 2023. https://desinformemonos.org/ordenan-a-fiscalia-de-morelos-entregar-carpeta-de-investigacion-sobre-caso-de-samir-flores/
English translation by Schools for Chiapas.
Los de abajo
Progress in the Samir Flores Case
Gloria Muñoz RamÃrez
The Peoples’ Front in Defense of Land and Water achieved an important advancement in the search for justice for their comrade Samir Flores Soberanes, a Nahua activist opposed to the Morelos Integral Project (PIM) and community communicator of Radio Amiltzinko, murdered four years and seven months ago, without justice having been served so far.
The soundness of the arguments of Samir Flores’ companions made a federal judge order the Morelos prosecutor’s office to hand over the investigation file on the murder of the territorial defender to the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Attention to Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression (Feadle), which from now on will be in charge of the investigation, as there are sufficient elements to establish that what motivated the murder could stem from his work as a broadcaster at Radio Comunitaria Amiltzinko 100.7 FM.
Last June the Morelos Prosecutor’s Office refused to hand over the investigation file so that the Feadle could take over the case, but this Thursday a federal judge ordered the file to be sent to the federal authority within 24 hours, which brings closer the possibility that, now yes, a serious and professional investigation can be carried out that will find the material and intellectual authors of the case. As it will be remembered, the former attorney general of Morelos, Uriel Carmona, arrested in Mexico City for allegedly covering up for Ariadna Fernanda’s murderer, obstructed justice for Samir at all times.
The recognition of Samir’s communications work sets an important precedent so that the rest of the community broadcasters have the same rights as those who practice journalism in traditional media. In a country where no one’s life is guaranteed, it is essential to close the gap between professional media workers and those born and raised in the country’s indigenous communities, whether in the heat of a struggle, as in the case of Radio Amiltzinko, or as a fundamental part of the strengthening of its social fabric.
It is up to Feadle to live up to expectations.
Original text published in La Jornada on August 19th, 2023. https://www.jornada.com.mx/2023/08/19/opinion/006o1pol
English translation by Schools for Chiapas.