Angry Calderón says Hank case ended in impunity

He expresses deep worry about Mexico's judiciary

By Omar Millán2011-08-31T18:55:00+00:00

Using a series of videos, Hank's defense team maintained the military had illegally entered the mansion. The videos proved convincing to both the initial judge who ruled on the case as well as the appeals one, according to their rulings made public.

"Because the evidence that was found, in the judges' opinion, came from an illegal raid, well then, that evidence is not allowed. I believe that this case is a real one in which we can see that there were crimes that were committed, there are victims of a crime, there is evidence in my judgment, irrefutable, common sense evidence that should be accepted by the judiciary, which simply rejects it because it believes that that night the army acted wrongfully," the president said on the newscast.

The president added that, even supposing that the military had entered the property in an illegal manner, there's the crime of stockpiling weapons presented by PGR.

"This is a case that worries me, which ends up being a case of impunity. I am not saying that Mr. Hank has killed those people. What I am saying is that among the weapons that the army found were two that were used to kill two people and those crimes have not been punished," he said.

Before speaking about the Hank case, news anchor Joaquín López Dóriga asked the president if he was angry with the judges.

"There are things in the judiciary that worry me a great deal, but I also know that the great majority of the judges in the country do their job and are honest. But I'm also worried about the divide that is widening every day between the real truth and what the judges call the legal truth.

"And the real truth is what people know. The real truth is that there are criminals on the street that are not being punished. And the legal truth says that this criminal or this case did not happen for this reason, because this evidence was lacking,

because what was presented was insufficient, etcetera," Calderón said. "And that deepens a problem we Mexicans have that is called impunity, in which all of us are a part of."

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com