Morena approves reservation to reduce sentences for officials accused of extortion

MEXICO CITY (apro) – The ruling party deputies approved a reservation in the discussion of the General Law on Extortion that reduces the prison sentence for officials who do not report extortion.

The reservation was proposed by the coordinator of the Morena caucus, Ricardo Monreal, and modifies article 21, which proposes an adjustment in the range of sanctions, which establishes that it be reduced from 6 to 12 years and not from 10 to 20 years for public servants who do not give reports on any illicit conduct related to extortion.

“And what I propose is that it be 5 to 12 years. Why? Because a greater penalty – of 10 to 20 years – cannot be applied to the official who omits or the official who does not report, compared to the one who is extortionist.”

“We are proposing that the extortionist receive a sentence of 6 to 15 years, and the official who fails to report, 10 to 20 years. That is the logical and proportional reason I am proposing: that the public servant who fails to report, the accomplice, or the one who omits information not receive 10 to 20 years, but rather 5 to 12 years, while the extortionist receives up to 15 years. That is the reason why I propose that it should be reduced,” he explained.

The General Law on Extortion was approved in particular by 339 votes in favor, 100 against and 4 abstentions, along with the reservation of the coordinator of the Morena caucus on lowering the penalties for police officers, public prosecutors or any public official who fails to provide information about this crime.

However, the reservation was rigorously discussed by the opposition. The coordinator of the PAN caucus, Elías Lixa, stated that what he requested when he asked to speak was that instead of lowering the sanctions for officials who collude with extortionists, the sanctions for the extortionists should be increased. He also asked that speculation about protecting former officials, such as the former Secretary of Security of Tabasco, Hernán Bermúdez Requena, who is being investigated for his links to organized crime, not be allowed to continue. This occurred when the Morena senator Adán Augusto López was governor.

“So, right now we have a central debate, which is whether we should impose lenient sentences on extortionists and government criminals who don't report their crimes. I believe that, given the many types of crimes that exist, when an official becomes corrupt because they have a public duty, it's even acceptable in criminal law for them to receive harsher penalties. This exists in our Penal Code, it exists in administrative law, and it's what we've said time and again: we must severely punish narco-governors who betray the public trust and do something else entirely from within the government…”

“I have done so without mentioning a single official from any government because this problem does not affect just one political party; it is an evil entrenched in government structures, and I believe it sends a bad message that after this sovereignty has reformed Article 73 of the Constitution to guarantee the nation that the severity of the Congress of the Union will ensure that this crime is combated, the result is that we give Mexico legislation that is weaker than what the federal entities already had.”

“Well, they should review, for example, how things are in Baja California, where there are much more severe penalties today. Legislators, don't allow room for speculation, don't allow it, because this only suggests that this mitigating circumstance seeks to protect all those who, being part of the Tabasco government, didn't want to denounce Bermúdez,” he emphasized.

For his part, PAN deputy David Azuara Zúñiga stated that the reservation is not a technical reform, but a political reform to protect the former security secretary of Tabasco, Hernán Bermúdez Requena.

“On one side we want to protect the victims, on the other side are those who want to protect the extortionists. Yes, it's that absurd, going from severely punishing those who use fear, violence, and threats to profit from the pain of others, to rewarding them with a reduction of up to half their sentence.”

“And don’t fool us, don’t fool the citizens out there. This isn’t a technical reform, this is a political reform, with a name, a surname, and this is a beneficiary and a reserve that comes dedicated to, who do you think? Yes, to Hernán Bermúdez. Or not? –I ask Erubiel Alonso, a colleague from Tabasco–, who is currently linked to extortion and whom they now want to benefit,” he emphasized.