Demands of European Parliamentarians fulfilled: Mexican environmentalist released!
Press Release - Brussels September 16th - Tobias Pflüger, MEP
On today's release from jail of Mexican environmentalist Felipe Arreaga Sánchez after more than 10 months of illegitimate arrest, Tobias Pflueger, Member of the European Parliament, declares: "I am very happy that Felipe has finally been set free". On behalf of the left parliamentary group (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament Pflueger, in March, had visited the environmentalist in prison, and had achieved that the local authorities finally granted their permission that the seriously ill prisoner be treated in hospital.
"After my return to Europe I made this case of a striking human rights violation a topic in the European Parliament ", Pflueger said.
The Member of the European Parliament continued: "The focus of the relations of the European Union with Mexico seems to lie only in free trade, not at all in the observance of human rights on the part of the contracting parties".
Pflueger went on to say that "a total of 30 European Parliamentarians of several parliamentary groups had signed a letter to the governor von Guerrero, demanding the immediate release of Arreagas". Felipe Arreaga for 30 years has been fighting against the extinction of the forests in the Sierra of Petatlán, Federal State Guerrero, and the destruction of the ecological system. On 3 November 2004 he was arrested and charged with a murder he allegedly had committed in 1998. Overwhelming evidence, however, has shown that the case against René Castro had been fabricated. Despite lack of evidence, Felipe Arreaga Sánchez remains under custody and is facing a trial which could result in conviction for a crime he did not commit.
The case created international attention and Amnesty international adopted Felipe Arreaga as a 'prisoner of conscience'. As Pflueger points out: "Even now he has been released Felipe Arreaga is extremely endangered. There is a high risk that the caziques, the powerful men in the area, might order killers to have him murdered." It is also for this reason that Felipe Arreaga now is on a trip to Europe where he, among other things, will also visit the European Parliament to report on the situation in the state of Guerrero.
On today's release from jail of Mexican environmentalist Felipe Arreaga Sánchez after more than 10 months of illegitimate arrest, Tobias Pflueger, Member of the European Parliament, declares: "I am very happy that Felipe has finally been set free". On behalf of the left parliamentary group (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament Pflueger, in March, had visited the environmentalist in prison, and had achieved that the local authorities finally granted their permission that the seriously ill prisoner be treated in hospital.
"After my return to Europe I made this case of a striking human rights violation a topic in the European Parliament ", Pflueger said.
The Member of the European Parliament continued: "The focus of the relations of the European Union with Mexico seems to lie only in free trade, not at all in the observance of human rights on the part of the contracting parties".
Pflueger went on to say that "a total of 30 European Parliamentarians of several parliamentary groups had signed a letter to the governor von Guerrero, demanding the immediate release of Arreagas". Felipe Arreaga for 30 years has been fighting against the extinction of the forests in the Sierra of Petatlán, Federal State Guerrero, and the destruction of the ecological system. On 3 November 2004 he was arrested and charged with a murder he allegedly had committed in 1998. Overwhelming evidence, however, has shown that the case against René Castro had been fabricated. Despite lack of evidence, Felipe Arreaga Sánchez remains under custody and is facing a trial which could result in conviction for a crime he did not commit.
The case created international attention and Amnesty international adopted Felipe Arreaga as a 'prisoner of conscience'. As Pflueger points out: "Even now he has been released Felipe Arreaga is extremely endangered. There is a high risk that the caziques, the powerful men in the area, might order killers to have him murdered." It is also for this reason that Felipe Arreaga now is on a trip to Europe where he, among other things, will also visit the European Parliament to report on the situation in the state of Guerrero.
Tobias Pflüger - 2005/09/16 14:06
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