Former prosecutor Jesús Murillo Karam, accused of obstructing the investigation of the Ayotzinapa case, was transferred from the Tepepan Medical Tower to the North Prison in Mexico City.
The measure was rejected by his defense, who has indicated that the former prosecutor lives with a “delicate state of health”, to withdraw the preventive detention, which was denied on December 2.
“We reject the measure because it puts at risk the health and life of Mr. Murillo Karam. Last week, Mr. Murillo Karam was diagnosed with COVID-19, which leaves him in an even more vulnerable position in his health, due to the diseases he suffers from such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), systemic arterial hypertension and cerebral vascular insufficiency. Even today, he had a blood pressure of 190/100,” his defense said in a statement.
Read more | Arguments about Murillo Karam’s health failed to convince the judge to let him out of pretrial detention
Murillo Karam’s lawyers maintained that on December 6 they challenged the measure given by the control judge.
They added that the former prosecutor has been transferred eight times from the penitentiary center to various hospitals.
“On the last occasion, registered on October 19, he no longer returned to prison, but was taken to 4 different public hospitals: General Hospital of Xoco; the National Institute of Cardiology ‘Ignacio Chávez’, where he underwent emergency High Risk Carotidea Edarterecotomia surgery; Belisario Domínguez Hospital and the Tepepan Medical Tower,” the defense said.
Murillo Karam will remain in pretrial detention at least until February, when his next hearing is held.
On August 19, the former prosecutor was arrested outside his home in Lomas de Chapultepec, accused of the crimes of torture, forced disappearance and against the administration of justice for the Ayotzinapa case.
The next day, a hearing was held in which Judge Fuerte Tapia decided to impose justified preventive detention and, days later, link him to the process considering that, if released, there was “a high risk of flight” given the importance of the investigation and the profile of the former official.
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