After a six-hour session, the Jalisco State Congress approved a measure to strip suspended Supreme Court magistrate José de Jesús “N” —accused of sexually abusing a minor—of immunity from prosecution.
In the behind-closed-doors session, attended by State Attorney General Gerardo Octavio Solís Gómez, 31 of the 38 legislators voted in favor of the measure, while two were absent with Covid-19.
“Congress opened the way to justice for victims of sexual abuse, especially against girls, against minors,” said Hagamos legislator Mara Robles, who considered the result “a great victory for the struggle of women,” while adding that “the due process and the presumption of innocence must be fulfilled … it will be the courts that determine the guilt or not of the alleged perpetrator.”
Solís Gómez said it is now up to the Ministerio Publico (state prosecutor’s office) to determine whether to file criminal charges against the magistrate, who is still drawing 70 percent of his salary despite being on an enforced leave of absence.