A Serious Case

To the Editors:

There was some publicity, in the United States and elsewhere, after large numbers of unarmed citizens were shot down by the army in Mexico City on October 2, 1968. But comparatively little was said about the ensuing mass arrests, the tortures used on many of the prisoners, or the mockery of due process during the trials. Particularly serious is the case of Mario R. Solorzano and Carlos Roland, two Guatemalan political exiles in Mexico. They had sought asylum in the Mexican Embassy in Guatemala City, on July 4, 1968, 10 AM. After spending some thirty days in the Embassy, they were flown to Mexico on August 6, 1968. There they were allegedly in some way connected with the 1968 Student Movement. Along with some 120 other political prisoners arrested at that time, they are still in jail in Mexico City.

Their case, however, is a special one: They were sentenced for having shot a soldier in Mexico City on July 4, 1968, although they could provide evidence that they were not even in the country at that time. They have recently been sentenced to twenty-three years, and their case is now pending before the Supreme Court of Mexico.

The two people feel it might help their case if concerned people all over the world wrote letters to the President of Mexico and the President of the Supreme Court demanding a fair trial. The addresses are:

Sr. lic. Luis Echeverria Alvarez, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Palacio Nacional, México, DF.

Sr. lic. Alfonso Guzman Neyra, Presidente, Suprema Corte de Justicia, México, DF.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

S. F.

Minneapolis, Minnesota