Jesús Murillo Karam will go to criminal trial

(CNN Spanish) — A federal judge in Mexico determined this Wednesday that there are sufficient elements to prosecute the former attorney general of Mexico, Jesús Murillo Karam, for the disappearance of the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa normal school, which occurred on September 26, 2014.

During a hearing held in the North Prison, where Murillo Karam is detained and in which several media outlets were present, Judge Marco Antonio Fuerte Tapia decided that the former official will face a criminal trial for the alleged commission of the crimes of forced disappearance, torture and obstruction of justice.

Murillo’s lawyers do not acknowledge the existence of such crimes.

Earlier, the defense of Murillo Karam had argued that the crimes charged to his client were not sustained since, according to his lawyers, they were supported by statements, versions and press conferences given at the time by the former attorney on the case and that ” They were taken out of context.”

However, the prosecutors in the case affirm that the evidence is well supported and proves the guilt of the detainee.

Murillo Karam was Attorney General of the Republic during the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto and led the investigation into the disappearance of the students.

He is also the author of the “historical truth”, which the Prosecutor’s Office considers a fabrication. It is the authorities’ first version of the events, which maintains that the students were kidnapped by members of the Guerrero Unidos criminal group, who later murdered and incinerated them in a garbage dump in the municipality of Cocula, in the southern state of Guerrero.

During the hearing, Murillo Karam referred to the “historical truth.” He said that there may have been errors or flaws but that no one has been able to discard it.