Marcos Mateo Miguel was released from jail on September 21st after spending five months incarcerated with no evidence presented against him. Miguel is a community leader that was part of the opposition against the construction of the Cambalam hydroelectric dam in Barillas, Huehuetenango.
On May 2nd, Miguel, along with other community leaders, was rounded up by civilians wearing ski masks, and handed over to police and military officials. They were transported overnight to a Guatemala City prison.
For over 140 days 11 community activists languished in jail while the state builds its case against them. Finally, at a hearing prosecutors admitted that they didn't have evidence to justify his detention.
At a press conference Miguel lamented the loss of five months of his life. "They stole those days from me and from my family. I suffered, my wife suffered, and my four children suffered.” He continued, "I call for the immediate release of the ten other leaders who are still imprisoned. They are innocent men, they have committed no crimes, and they deserve their freedom also."
According to the Council of Western Peoples, an employee of Hydro Santa Cruz and ex-military captain has offered the release of various detained activists in exchange for their support of the construction of the project.
Carlos Bezares, Miguel’s lawyer, added that "the concept of 'innocent until proven guilty' has been absolutely obliterated in this case. There was no impartial investigation and no due process... not to mention the illegal detentions and a series of other gross anomalies." He added that "in the case of Barillas, the justice apparatus has been fine-tuned to oppress the innocent. As lawyers involved in this case, we are ashamed of our justice system.” The organizations present called on the Public Ministry and the Justice Department to protect the constitutional rights of the political prisoners and facilitate their immediate release. The lawyers have brought the case to the attention of the United Nations in a petition to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in Geneva.
Ten arrest warrants were recently revoked after a civil court of Santa Eulalia found the warrants were issued in violation of proper procedures. 23 warrants still remain outstanding for the arrests of activists from Barillas for the crimes such as terrorism, kidnapping, coercion, and ‘activity against the security of the nation’ among other charges, according to El Periodico.
With information from the Guatemala Human Rights Commission.
Listen to Marcos Mateo Miguel’s statement upon release, available in Spanish, here.
