Mexico: Main suspect absolved in 2014 student disappearances

One of the main suspects in the 2014 disappearance of 43 teachers’ college students in Mexico has been acquitted, as justice remains elusive for one of the darkest moments of the country’s recent history.

Santiago Aguirre is director of the human rights center known as Prodh and a lawyer for victims’ relatives. He says the judge absolved Gilberto López Astudillo due to “human rights violations and irregularities in the investigation.”

He said Tuesday López Astudillo was released from custody on Saturday.

López Astudillo has been identified as an alleged member of the Guerreros Unidos organized crime group and involved in the disappearances.

Authorities say the students were abducted by police in Iguala, Guerrero state, and handed over to Guerreros Unidos. What happened to them next has not been conclusively established.