Arturo Sánchez and Alma E. Muñoz
La Jornada newspaper
Saturday, August 2, 2025, p. 3
The release of Israel Vallarta, after almost 20 years in prison without sentence, was a decision of a judge of the Third District Court in the State of Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo said yesterday.
He stressed at his morning conference in the National Palace that the Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, worked in that case since he was a security holder in the last six -year television assembly
Linked to Genaro García Luna.
Yes, it was a judge’s decision
the president pointed out, highlighting that this case cannot be separated from the Calderonism security strategy. “We can not forget how the detention and television assembly were … conducted by those who were later indicated by ties to drug trafficking. That sexennium was characterized not by seeking security, but by allying with criminal groups,” he added.
For his part, Rosa Icela Rodríguez explained that the acquittal sentence was issued on July 31, after a process that lasted almost two decades. Vallarta, arrested on December 8, 2005, faced charges for organized and kidnapping crime. During these years 10 appeals, six amparo trials, seven review resources and three complaints were filed. In 2022, the UN Committee against torture requested protection measures, medical care and alternative to the prison for the accused.
Rodríguez added that the Federal Government supported the Vallarta family, especially his wife, through social and medical efforts, and stressed that the case demonstrates the urgency of reviewing preventive detention processes in Mexico.
In turn, the Federal Institute of Public Defender (IFDP) and the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center warned that the case shows the punitive character of prolonged preventive detention.
The IFDP, which is part of the Judicial Branch of the Federation and provided its support for the liberation of Vallarta, considered that The judgment issued by Judge Mariana Vieyra represents a fundamental step in repairing the damage, as well as a relevant precedent in the fight against torture, the use of illicit evidence and preventive detention in Mexico
.
He added that the case It has been widely documented as an emblem of prolonged injustice, after the television assembly of its arrest, staged and broadcast on the National Chain.
.
Also, the PRO celebrated the important resolution
which allowed the immediate release of Vallarta. “His situation – representative of thousands more – shows the harmful of the figure of preventive detention and his function as an anticipated penalty.”
The organization also recognized the persistence of its family and the work of the IFDP to achieve its release.
(With information from César Arellano and Gustavo Castillo)
