A dozen arrest warrants have been issued by Mexican authorities more than two years after the murder of a Finnish human rights activist.
Jyri Jaakkola, 33, and fellow activist Bety Cariño Trujillo, a Mexican national, were slain in a rural indigenous village in southern Mexico in April of 2010. The two men, both dedicated human rights advocates, had been helping to bring food and supplies to indigenous villagers who have been rocked by a violent separatist movement in recent years.
Both EU authorities and Helsinki have continued to push Mexican police and government officials to make arrests. And on Monday, a Mexican court finally revealed that arrest warrants have been issued for 12 suspects. Many of the individuals are reportedly linked to the Ubisort militia, which is believed to be supported by the PRI, the country’s longstanding ruling political party.
David Peña Rodriguez, the Finn’s lawyer, told reporters from the YLE news agency that the international community must continue to apply pressure in order to produce results. He added that the case could mark the first time that a murder of human rights workers has ever gotten proper attention from Mexican authorities.
Satu Hassi, the former development cooperation minister for Finnish government, has visited Mexico numerous times since the murders. She has said that around 90 per cent of murders in the North American country are never investigated.