Sister Cities
Appeal Denied, all Suchitoto 13 Still Face Terrorism Charges – July 20, 2007
At approximately 8:30 pm last night, after hours of deliberation, a Special Penal Court denied an appeal to drop charges of “acts of terrorism” against the 13 people detained in Suchitoto last July 2. However, the Tribunal granted conditional liberty to 4 of the 13 people currently detained.
Gloria de la Paz Lizama y Sandra Chicas, the two special judges of the Special Tribunal, ordered the conditional release of Haydee Chicas, CRIPDES journalist, José Ever Fuentes, Sandra Isabel Guatemala, and Beatriz Eugenia Nuila González. The verdict of the Tribunal came after the defense lawyers for the 13 appealed Judge Ana Lucila Fuentes de Paz´s July 7th decision to hold the 13 in “Preventive Detention” under charges of “acts of terrorism” for three months while the prosecuting attorneys build their case.
The committee of family members of political prisoners, CRIPDES, and the Salvadoran social movement continue constant peaceful vigil and fasting in San Salvador demanding the freedom for all thirteen political prisoners and that the Legislative Assembly revoke the antiterrorism law.
As of today, nine of the original 14 who where captured by riot police on July 2nd are still being held without bail, and the four to be released today must present themselves every 15 days before a special Judge assigned to their case and may not leave the country. All thirteen will still be tried within 90 days of the July 7th decision.
Karla Albanes, defense lawyer for the 13 political prisoners, said that the appeal decision by the Special Tribunal was “contradictory,” since all 13 are charged as a group with “acts of terrorism,” which should dictate equal treatment, yet 9 are still being denied bail. The defense plans to continue the appeals process with the Special Tribunal.
Albanes was resolute in the defense team’s intentions to free all 13 “we will achieve freedom for our clients sooner or later, for these political prisoners unjustly detained. We will ask the United Nations that they take a position, and we are awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court with respect to habeas corpus which we filed two days ago.”
Meanwhile the Attorney General of El Salvador Félix Gerrid Safie asked for independence in the case, that the executive branch not influence the trail proceedings. Safie´s concern was evident last night in the appeal hearing, in which representatives of the Salvadoran State Department (Ministerio de Gobernación) were present at the trial.
