Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat
José Manuel Mireles, former leader of the Tepalcatepec autodefensas in Michoacán, left El Rincón Prison located in Tepic, Nayarit, after three years in jail.
Dr. José Manuel Mireles reported that he was released from prison at 7:00am this morning. He said that “I’m heading out…we still don’t know the way.”
“I am happy to see you all, I thank you all for all the support you have given me (…) because the struggle must continue,” said the former autodefensa leader of Michoacán.
In a telephone interview with Ciro Gómez Leyva, Mireles said that when he entered prison, he did not have the diseases he has today. “I had two heart attacks, I still have diabetes and spinal problems. I gained that here, from inside; I didn’t have that outside,” said the doctor.
Mireles said that he was unaware of the place in which he would be transferred to, but said that he would like to have a medical checkup due to the heart problems he has had.
“We don’t know where but I would like to go to a heart checkup; I suffered three minor strokes, I have spinal injuries and my diabetes is uncontrolled,” he said.
The former leader of the autodefensas commented that at around 23:00 yesterday, the first process server told him that the agreement was reached with the judge for him to be released and this morning, he was released at 7:00am.
Ignacio Mendoza Jiménez, Mireles’ lawyer, said in an interview with Grupo Fórmula that “the truth is that we feel happy for him, for his family, but as a lawyer, we think that it is incomplete and we will continue to work so that in the coming months, the process is not lengthened (…) and obtain an acquittal.”
The release of Mireles comes after his lawyers, Ignacio Mendoza Jiménez and Carlos Iván Martínez Rosas, paid the 30,000 peso ($1,595 USD) bond imposed by a district judge based in Michoacán.
Mireles is subject to prosecution for his probable participation in the crime of carrying firearms for the exclusive use of the armed forces, a record that is currently in process, due to the fact that they still lack to relieve diverse tests offered by their defenders.
Among the conditions for his freedom, José Manuel Mireles will not be able to approach any of the people that had to do with the history of the autodefensas and his case. In this regard, Dr. Mireles said that he didn’t have hatred nor a grudge. “I cannot afford to keep up my courage because of my health situation.”
In addition to the paid bond, Mireles must comply with other precautionary measures such as submitting periodically to sign at court, not leave the state of Michoacán nor the country; as well as not approaching nor communicating with certain people.
When asked about the book he was preparing, Mireles said that he finished it in prison; it is now waiting for the latest revision.
