Mexico's scientific community reacted furiously to the request by the chief prosecutor for arrest warrants for 31 scientists and researchers. They were accused of money laundering, organised crime and embezzlement and could be placed alongside drug cartel kingpins at one of the most notorious prisons in the country.
The arrest warrants were denied Wednesday by the judge of the Altiplano maximum security prison, from which JoaqunEl Chapo Guzmn escaped back in 2015. However, the federal prosecutor announced immediately that he would pursue the arrest warrants for the third consecutive time.
Professors at universities were accused of violating a law which prevents members of advisory boards from receiving money from the government science fund. The law was passed in 2019 and scientists received the $2.5m years before it was legal. The funds were not misused or illegally denied by those involved.
According to Conacyt, the National Council on Science and Technology (Conacyt), the response to arrest warrant applications was described as a coordinated wave of disinformation that spread terror within the scientific community.
They are referring to funds from illegal origins and calling it organised crime, even though it was a non-profit organization, Alma Maldonado, an investigator at the public research center Cinvestav, stated. It is absurd to accuse it at this level.
Scientists and academics say the prosecutions are an attempt to silence them. President Andrs Manual Lpez Obrador's administration imposes harsh austerity policies, and gives little thought to science in its response to the pandemic.
Conacyt and the prosecutor sent a strong message to the academic community: If you think differently from us, it's best to find another job, wrote Javier Aparicio, a political economist, in Exclsior.
The criminal charges have exacerbated the animosity between Lpez Obrador administrations and scientific community. AMLO, the president, liquidated public trusts to fund academic and scientific research. He claimed corruption and claimed the money would be used for pandemic relief.
Elena lvarezBuylla, Conacyt director often attacks neoliberal sciences and stated that in 2020 it produced some of the most controversial, but perhaps most useless, advances like reaching the moon.
Mexico's attempt to criminally accuse academics of organised crime offences has raised concerns about prosecutorial priorities. This at a time when the president of Mexico, who frequently criticises scientists and journalists, advocates a policy that hugs and not bullets and rarely uses a word for drug cartel bosses.
Files from the Associated Press
