Two Canadian women accused of lobbing Molotov cocktails at Mexico City government offices can be held in custody for another 40 days without being charged, a judge ruled this week.
Media reports in Mexico suggest investigators from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) are trying to ascertain whether Amélie Pelletier and Fallon Rouiller Poisson are guilty of a simple act of vandalism, or if they are affiliated with an anarchist organization of any kind.
According to reports from the capital, shortly after the fire bombings on January 6, police officers found the women in possession of a backpack containing bottles used for making explosive devices and “dark clothing” stained with blood. A Mexican man was detained at the same time.
The five attacks occurred in the Benito Juárez delegation in the south of the capital. They included an office of the federal Communications and Transportation agency and a Nissan dealership. Seven vehicles were damaged in the attacks.The Toronto Star described Poisson, a 20-year-old from Montreal, as “a recent junior-college graduate … with strong political convictions.”
The paper said she was “an active participant in the 2012 student movement that led to nightly, large-scale demonstrations two years ago in Quebec – a crisis dubbed the Maple Spring.”
In another article, the Star quoted a fellow student, who described Poisson as a “militant anarchist involved in radical organizations such as anti-capitalist groups.”
According to Mexico City daily Reforma, the women had arrived in the capital from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.
Supporters of the jailed women held a vigil outside the Mexican Consulate in Montreal last week, slamming Mexico’s “repressive” and “authoritarian” and demanding that their “comrades” be freed.