Have a weekend laugh and surely it’s got to come from the application of Mexican justice.
Last Monday an alleged federal felon, now named Javier “N,” was taken to Mexico City’s most infamous hotel, the ReNo, and charged with organized criminal activities. Javier “N” was transported from Guatemala to Mexico City on an extradition protocol.
The ReNo Hotel, in case you’re wondering, is the Reclusorio Norte, or northern Mexico City Prison for which regular guests have developed a kind of love and dislike the name Northern Prison. ReNo (the first two syllables) sounds more romantic.
In a highly televised arrival with the face of the culprit blurred as not to reveal his true identity, the trial of Javier “N” began as soon as he entered the ReNo with him facing the judge who issued his arrest and extradition warrants. The accusing attorneys were at hand and guess what? They forgot that Javier “N” is a shrewd lawyer and right off the bat nearly tore their case to pieces.
Of course Javier “N” — on TV all this past week — is none other than the former governor of the state of Veracruz, Javier Duarte de Ochoa, who is accused of a lot more criminal activities than organized crime and money laundering, but the judge tossed out other accusations as they did not meet the word of law in the warrant issued for his arrest and extradition.
As expected, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) sent their worst equipped lawyers and shrewd Javier “N” immediately pigeon-holed their ill put together case in which Javer “N” claimed innocence in all cases. That’s the right of a defendant and as such it stood with the Attorney General’s outright incompetent lawyers who could not come up with a case to nail and tank Javier “N” permanently, a punishment public opinion says, he surely deserves.
But of course this is Mexico and the Javier “N” case is indeed exceptional as it is no ordinary case. This one of an allegedly crooked Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) politician who indeed is a very close friend of President Enrique Peña Nieto and popular hearsay has it is protecting this former PRI governor accused of stealing billions (of pesos, of course) and who current Veracruz State Gov. Miguel Ángel Yunes says left the state finances in “total bankruptcy.”
Yet what happened on Monday and Tuesday during the arraignment procedures is what everyone was expecting and it was that Attorney General Raúl Cervantes sent his worst equipped lawyer with a badly put together case in order to attenuate the judge’s appraisal of accusing facts (or lack of them) as to protect the accused Javier “N.”
Indeed the Attorney General’s accusers were the laughing stock of the press all week as they presented a non-case in which if it all goes well, the alleged culprit may come out if not exonerated, at least with a mild prison sentence as the total amount of charges against him piled up add up to over a hundred years in the slammer.
The Attorney General’s lawyers blunder and case misrepresentation was seen by all as Javier “N” getting protection from the president himself. Wednesday Interior Secretary Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong defended the Attorney General’s misrepresentation of charges and asked to “have faith” on the case the Mexican government is presenting against Javier “N.”
Faith?
Now you can laugh. It seems the Attorney General programmed all of its legal errors in the case in order to defend the accused. In reality, people are not laughing because the case going against this alleged thief of public funds, including selling water as cancer treatment (a nefarious crime in itself), may surely go awry and have the Attorney General lose the case.
But even before hand, because this is Mexico, everyone knew this could happen.