Federal Judiciary Council denies “gagging order” against judges who criticize AMLO… Yet, the audio is NOT denied.
MEXICO.- The Federal Judiciary Council (CJF) denied the note from “Periódico Reforma” that claims pressure against judges that criticized President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, after an audio was released with Judge Claudia Mavel Curiel saying to have received instructions from the president of the Supreme Court to avoid criticizing the president.
In the audio, the magistrate reveals that who gave her the order was the director of the National Association of Judges and Circuit Magistrates of the Judiciary of the Federation after they met with Alfonso Perez Daza, advisor to the Federal Judiciary.
She affirmed that Perez Daza “summoned them to the Council to tell they that if they continued with this type of attitude that has to do with positions, comments and statements, against AMLO or the way in which he is exercising power, or that there are any attacks regarding “our independence or our autonomy”, or that the Minister-President Arturo Zaldívar is aligned with him (AMLO…) responsibility procedures are going to be initiated against whoever continues to make these types of comments”.
In the audio, she clarifies they already detected those who have been issuing those messages, “first they want to call us to prudence before acting, to work regularly, forgetting all this political issue is not ours, that the defense of independence and autonomy is the responsibility of the Supreme Court and the special advisor and especially the presiding minister” (…) “our attitudes are not helping the negotiations”.
In a statement published in social networks, the The Federal Judiciary Council (CJF) indicated that the article published by the national newspaper is false, in which it was stated that Judge Curiel had communicated to her counterparts that the Presidency of the Court ordered the judges to avoid criticisms or comments against López Obrador.
Réplica al periódico @Reforma en relación con la nota publicada el día de hoy, “Exigen a jueces no criticar a AMLO”. El mensaje es claro: la nota es falsa. La fuerza del PJF está en la autonomía constitucional que tiene cada juzgador federal de emitir sus sentencias. pic.twitter.com/ra2ta21zRr
— CJF (@CJF_Mx) 15 de marzo de 2019
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Nation (SCJN), Arturo Zaldívar, who also presides over the CJF, did not denied the audio, but it traid to clarify his position with the following statement: “The Judicial Power of the Federation is a constitutional counterweight that is made effective through the resolutions of the judges. Its function is not in the partisan political arena, but in the jurisdictional activity; that is, dictating sentences in accordance with the Constitution”.
With information from: Reforma / The Federal Judiciary Council (CJF) / The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Nation (SCJN), Arturo Zaldívar
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