JURIST - Paper Chase: Mexican court denies arrest warrant for ex-president in 1971 student massacre case

[JURIST] A Mexican court Tuesday refused to issue a warrant for the arrest of former Mexican president Luis Echeverria [Wikipedia profile] for his alleged involvement in the 1971 "Corpus Christi massacre," leading to the deaths of nearly a dozen student protesters. The current president of Mexico, Vicente Fox [BBC profile], had called for an investigation into the massacre and other political crimes, and the case has centered on whether the deaths may be considered genocide and whether Echeverria hired hit men to carry out the murders. Mexico's Supreme Court determined in June that the 30-year statute of limitations on the claim had not elapsed [JURIST report] because it did not start running until Echeverria's final term ended in 1976. A lower court was given the authority to determine if Echeverria should be tried. AP has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...