TEPJF rejects complaint against AMLO’s book

Mexico City. To protect freedom of expression, the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF) supported the criteria of the Electoral Litigation Technical Unit (UTCE) of the INE, regarding dismissing the complaint of Xóchitl Gálvez against the President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for some demonstrations included in his book ¡Gracias!

The presidential candidate of the opposition coalition pointed out that in his most recent work the president alluded to Claudia Sheinbaum and, therefore, violated principles of impartiality, neutrality and equity in the contest, in addition to engaging in improper use of public resources.

Although speaker Reyes Rodríguez proposed that the unit analyze the case, even if it was only to reject Gálvez’s request, his colleagues Mónica Soto, Felipe Fuentes and Felipe de la Mata argued that doing so would set a bad precedent in terms of censorship. Only in dictatorial regimes are books suspended…said De la Mata, adding that the matter forces the magistrates to reflect on whether electoral regulations can be an instrument that prevents the circulation of books.

You can disagree with what someone says, but censorship is not the way to close the way to ideas.he stressed.

Reyes revealed that the UTCE did not have access to the book, even though it requested an electronic copy from the publisher, but the text was not available in that form and it no longer insisted on obtaining a printed copy.

The unit dismissed the complaint with the argument that the complainant did not include the book but only links to journalistic reviews.

The reporting magistrate and Janine Otálora insisted that the UTCE carried out a substantive analysis that corresponds exclusively to the specialized Chamber of the TEPJF.

The three judges with different criteria insisted that it is not up to this court to remove a book from the market, especially in a country with such a low level of reading.

De la Mata also explained that to read a book the will of the person is required and its restriction would be censorship.

Should we burn all the books with which we do not agree in their content? Can four sentences affect equity?… Books are not censored. Are we also going to ban libraries? Are we going to burn them like in the 1930s, like in Nazi Germany?he stated.

Otálora and Rodríguez insisted that the author is a public official and the facts must be analyzed in light of the ongoing dispute.

In addition, it declared the second report on political violence issued by the National Human Rights Commission invalid and ordered its dissemination to be suspended; With this, the TEPJF confirms that the commission does not have powers in electoral matters.

In other matters, this Superior Chamber confirmed the candidacy for the Senate of the former governor of Chihuahua, Javier Corral Jurado.

The project of Judge Felipe Fuentes was unanimously approved, stating that it was not Corral’s will to have dual nationality, since he has a birth certificate in Mexico and was born in the United States, whose protection he renounced in 1991.