On the afternoon of this Wednesday, the First Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) revoked the amparo that a Federal Court granted to Mario Aburto Martínez, who was planning to be released after serving 30 years in prison for the homicide of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio in 1994. Minister Lenia Batres cast the decisive vote, supporting the project of Minister Juan Luis González Alcántara Carrancá, who proposed ordering the reinstatement of the procedure in the amparo trial, so that the family of the candidate could be heard.
Alcántara Carrancá and Minister Loretta Ortiz voted to revoke the amparo that would grant him his freedom, while Minister Margarita Ríos Farjat and Minister Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena voted to confirm the amparo.
Mario Aburto was born in Zamora, Michoacán, in 1970, and moved to Tijuana in 1987, where he began working in a maquiladora. At the age of 23, he was arrested after shooting Luis Donaldo Colosio with a Taurus .38 pistol. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison, meaning his possible release would not occur until 2039. During these years he has been incarcerated in various prisons, including the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1, “El Altiplano,” and other centers in Jalisco, Tabasco, and Guanajuato.
In 2022, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) reopened his case, as his lawyers alleged irregularities in the file and reported that during his incarceration he has suffered torture and difficulties in communicating with his family. Two days later, he faced a trial for qualified homicide with premeditation, advantage, and malice, as well as for carrying a firearm without a license.
At the time of the crime, Aburto was working at Cameros Magnéticos, a factory for cassette tapes.
