A federal collegiate court overturned the ruling that had allowed the proceedings against Francisco González Arredondo, former prosecutor specializing in human rights in Chihuahua, to continue, determining that the charges against him lacked sufficient legal grounds to justify his being bound over for trial. The decision questions the manner in which the state prosecutor’s office presented the allegations of alleged psychological torture.
Between 2016 and 2021, González Arredondo headed the so-called Justice Operation for Chihuahua, an initiative implemented during Javier Corral’s administration aimed at probing an alleged scheme concerning the embezzlement of state resources tied to former Governor César Duarte. Following the transition in the state administration, he was detained in November 2022, shifting his role from spearheading anti-corruption probes to defending himself against criminal charges.
The judicial ruling, issued on July 30 in a 109-page decision, states that the prosecutor’s office failed to adequately specify when the alleged acts attributed to the former prosecutor took place. According to the judges, this lack of precision affected González Arredondo’s ability to mount an adequate defense against the charges.
One of the court’s main concerns involved the period used by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to establish when the alleged acts of torture occurred. The charges covered approximately 21 months, from February 2017 to November 2018, but did not identify specific dates, particular circumstances or the role the former prosecutor allegedly played in each of the incidents.
The judges also examined footage from the preliminary sessions of the case. They noted that defense counsel consistently requested exact dates for the incriminated actions, whereas the public ministry kept pointing exclusively to an extensive timeframe spanning almost twenty-four months. Consequently, the bench concluded that such vagueness severely impaired the guarantees of a proper defense.
The ruling additionally scrutinized the statements made by the individual who reported the claimed events. The magistrates determined that the provided testimony lacked a precise timeline concerning the outlined interrogations, threats, and pressures, failing to clearly establish the exact timing of these occurrences or in which specific episodes González Arredondo was alleged to have directly taken part.
The judicial panel, consisting of Marta Barrios, Mario Gámez and José Cornejo, determined that the shortcomings regarding the timeline and context of the purported incidents additionally hindered the assessment of the former prosecutor’s potential participation, thereby casting doubt on the existence of adequate proof to support the accusations.
The decision also integrated a communication issued by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico. Throughout the amparo proceedings, the entity voiced apprehension that the criminal charges brought against González Arredondo might amount to payback linked to his anti-corruption investigations. Ultimately, the tribunal chose to append the statement to the legal dossier so it could be weighed during the final judgment.
González Arredondo had been held in preventive custody starting in November 2022 until a federal magistrate mandated in March 2023 that he await trial outside of jail. This recent decision constitutes a defeat for the prosecutors and substantially alters the ex-prosecutor’s judicial standing, seeing as his professional trajectory was tightly linked to the graft probes conducted throughout Javier Corral’s administration.
The case has gained prominence within the broader discussion regarding the deployment of the criminal justice system against public officials and human rights defenders engaged in sensitive inquiries. The verdict underscores the duty of authorities to craft exact charges and uphold the procedural safeguards of individuals undergoing criminal prosecution.
Source: EL PAÍS — https://elpais.com/mexico/2026-08-08/la-justicia-desarma-el-caso-contra-el-fiscal-que-persiguio-la-corrupcion-en-chihuahua.html
