A federal court has acquitted Javier 'N', the only person detained for the murder of community communicator, territory defender, and main opponent of the Huexca thermoelectric plant, Samir Flores Soberanes, which occurred on February 20, 2019, in Amilcingo, Temoac, Morelos. After a four-year judicial process, Judge Gustavo Eduardo Alonso Ortiz concluded that the evidence presented by the federal prosecutor did not reach the necessary level to prove his guilt. During the oral trial, the court analyzed the elements presented by the Public Ministry and determined that they could not demonstrate the accused's participation in the homicide, which occurred days before the federal consultation on the Integral Morelos Project (PIM). Samir Flores was a territory defender and journalist at the community radio station Amiltzinko 100.7 FM. Flores called on the Mexican state, civil society, and international organizations to guarantee protection and continue with the investigations: 'It is a call to activate investigations that allow us to reach the truth about the murder of Samir Flores Soberanes'. Among them is Salvador 'N', currently a fugitive, who is considered the material author. Following the acquittal, the continuity of the investigations is now in the hands of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR), through the Special Prosecutor's Office for the Attention of Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE). Furthermore, ministerial agents incurred contradictions when gathering testimonies. 'The ministerial agents showed several contradictions regarding how the interviews were conducted, how the witnesses were found, and how these tests were carried out,' explained Flores. For this reason, the legal counsel qualified the process as 'the chronicle of a setup,' a strategy that focused years of investigation on a single person without sufficient evidence, delaying the identification of the true culprits. The legal counsel also highlighted the need to investigate both the material and intellectual authors of the murder. He was part of the Front of Peoples in Defense of the Land and Water of Morelos, Puebla, and Tlaxcala (FPDTA-MPT), where he coordinated communities affected by the PIM and promoted regional resistance against the project, which includes a gas pipeline, an aqueduct, and a thermoelectric plant in Huexca, Yecapixtla, promoted by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) in collaboration with Elecnor and Enagás. Juan Carlos Flores, a lawyer and member of the FPDTA-MPT, explained that the acquittal reflects the insufficiency of the evidence presented by the Prosecutor's Office, and pointed out that two of the main witnesses were killed before the trial concluded, while other key testimonies lacked sufficient backing.
