On August 22, 2014, Viridiana Molina was arrested at her home. In front of her 6-year-old daughter and her twins, just 11 months old, the woman was accused of trafficking in undocumented immigrants, illicit money and organized crime.
The person they were looking for for these crimes was her then partner, however, during the operation she was also taken away.
Seido had it for 80 days rooted in a hotel in the Doctores colony, in Mexico City, and then it was transferred to Nayarit and later to Morelos.
Read: Women serve up to five years in prison than men: report
Four years and six months later, on February 20, 2019, and finding no evidence to support the charge, the woman was acquitted and released.
Since that day she has worked to get her children and family back.
!!️ Viridiana was improperly detained on 22 August 2014 and subjected to acts of torture.
➡️ The basis of the accusation is simply to have been the partner of the person involved.
!!️ Women should NOT be criminalized for their affective relationships. pic.twitter.com/VlZAgVRHlj
— CEA Social Justice (@CeaJusticia) July 16, 2021
After her experience, she became a human rights defender and formed the collective Article 20 to defend the rights of women in prison, since she says that she herself was a victim of torture. In addition, she is a spokesperson for the excesses of the penal system and violations of rights.
However, the penal system is playing against them.
Since the acquittal he received was not a final sentence, the Public Prosecutor’s Office intervened in 2019 and decided to appeal to a court of second instance.
“In a very difficult process, the public defender’s office represents her and is acquitted after 4 and a half years, however, the Public Prosecutor’s Office challenges the decision and in the second instance they find her guilty. This process goes to the Collegiate Court, the court rules her guilty and the (public) defender’s office makes the decision to review the evidence that was had and the processes that had been carried out to carry out the amparo for review to the Supreme Court (of Justice of the Nation),” explains Ángela Guerrero, general coordinator of the Center for Studies and Action for Social Justice (CEA) who have given accompaniment and advice to Viridiana.
On Wednesday, July 14, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation dismissed the case as irrelevant on the grounds that there is no issue of constitutionality.
In reviewing the case, Guerrero says, the Supreme Court did not follow its own protocol with a gender perspective and the analysis it carried out did so in light of the grievances committed by Viridiana’s former partner – who was also acquitted in 2019 – and not with the arguments of the woman who leads a defense other than his.
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“With this decision, human rights defender Viridiana Molina will return to prison. He will be revictimized and the process of family reunification and social reintegration that took so much work will be reversed,” equis Justicia para las Mujeres and CEA Justicia Social said in a joint statement.
The chances of Viridiana being deprived of her liberty again are very high, so the federal ombudsman’s office will challenge the decision made by the SCJN and in 10 days a minister or minister rapporteur will decide whether to admit or ultimately discard it.
“There is a very small chance that she will remain free and she knows it because we are in the last step. There are 10 days left for a minister rapporteur to uphold the decision not to review the amparo or change it. If Viridiana changes it, it will be out while the SCJN itself resolves the amparo, if they maintain the dismissing of the case, Viridiana will return to the prison,” Guerrero added.
Viridiana is expected to go to the Supreme Court in the coming days to request a hearing to present her case.
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