In a significant development in the case of the 43 missing students, Mexico has rounded up a retired judge accused of manipulating evidence.
Police in Mexico apprehended Lambertina Galeana Marín, a former president of the Superior Tribunal of Justice in Guerrero, on suspicions that she ordered the destruction of crucial CCTV footage related to the disappearance of 43 trainee teachers from Iguala nearly a decade ago. The 79-year-old was arrested in Chilpancingo, three years after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
The incident, which transpired on September 26, 2014, has become a symbol of the struggle for justice in Mexico, as families of the missing students continue to seek accountability. Despite various investigations, little is known about the case, though three students' remains have been identified, while the fate of the other 40 remains shrouded in mystery; they are largely believed to have been killed.
A 2022 report by a truth commission revealed that the disappearance was a state-sponsored crime, implicating both local and federal authorities. The commission found that local police collaborated with the criminal organization known as Guerreros Unidos to forcibly disappear the students. On the night of their disappearance, the students had traveled to Iguala to commandeer buses for a protest in Mexico City.
The report noted that local police set up roadblocks to stop the students, supported by members of Guerreros Unidos who suspected that rival gang members from Los Rojos were infiltrating the group. Witnesses described a roadblock outside the Palace of Justice where, allegedly, security cameras captured the events, but the footage has mysteriously vanished. Investigators reported that when they attempted to recover the footage a year later, it had been "lost." Prosecutors now contend that Galeana was responsible for ordering its deletion. Mexico's security ministry confirmed that she would be charged with forced disappearance, further prolonging the families’ painful search for answers.
Police in Mexico apprehended Lambertina Galeana Marín, a former president of the Superior Tribunal of Justice in Guerrero, on suspicions that she ordered the destruction of crucial CCTV footage related to the disappearance of 43 trainee teachers from Iguala nearly a decade ago. The 79-year-old was arrested in Chilpancingo, three years after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
The incident, which transpired on September 26, 2014, has become a symbol of the struggle for justice in Mexico, as families of the missing students continue to seek accountability. Despite various investigations, little is known about the case, though three students' remains have been identified, while the fate of the other 40 remains shrouded in mystery; they are largely believed to have been killed.
A 2022 report by a truth commission revealed that the disappearance was a state-sponsored crime, implicating both local and federal authorities. The commission found that local police collaborated with the criminal organization known as Guerreros Unidos to forcibly disappear the students. On the night of their disappearance, the students had traveled to Iguala to commandeer buses for a protest in Mexico City.
The report noted that local police set up roadblocks to stop the students, supported by members of Guerreros Unidos who suspected that rival gang members from Los Rojos were infiltrating the group. Witnesses described a roadblock outside the Palace of Justice where, allegedly, security cameras captured the events, but the footage has mysteriously vanished. Investigators reported that when they attempted to recover the footage a year later, it had been "lost." Prosecutors now contend that Galeana was responsible for ordering its deletion. Mexico's security ministry confirmed that she would be charged with forced disappearance, further prolonging the families’ painful search for answers.
