Mexican judge accepts charges against former top prosecutor in 2014 student disappearances case

A Mexican judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence to hear charges against the country’s former Attorney General Jesus Murillo in relation to his alleged role in the disappearance of 43 students in 2014 and subsequent investigation, judicial authorities said Wednesday.

Murillo, who was arrested on Friday in the first high-level detention of an official for involvement in the case, is accused of torture, forced disappearance and obstruction of justice. Murillo oversaw the highly criticized inquiry into the incident in which 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College went missing in the southwest state of Guerrero.

The arrest comes after Mexico’s top human rights investigator called the disappearances “a state crime” last week, marking one of the worst human rights abuses in the country’s history. International experts have said Murillo’s investigation was riddled with missteps and abuses, including torture of witnesses.

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