Rosas Aispiuro, former governor of Durango, is prosecuted for threats against a journalist

The federal judge determined a period of three months for the integration of the complementary investigation.

Mexico City, May 30 (However).- José Rosas Aispuro, former PAN governor of the state of Durango, has been linked to process for the alleged commission of the crimes of illegal use of public force in contra of the journalist Carlos Ivan Soto.

The criminal situation was determined by Juan Luis Ramírez López, Control Judge of the Federal Criminal Justice Center with residence in Durango, who imposed the non-performing of acts of annoyance to the victim as a precautionary measure. Likewise, he set a period of three months for the complementary investigation.

Iván Soto used his social networks to publicize the process of the former president of the National Action Party (PAN).

“At 5:28 a.m., the order of connection to criminal proceedings against José ‘N’ is declared, for the probable material commission of an act that the law considers a crime, to the detriment of the journalist Iván Soto,” he wrote in Twitter.

Being 5:28 AM, the order of connection to criminal proceedings against José “N” is declared, for the probable material commission of an act that the law considers as a crime, to the detriment of the journalist Iván Soto @ivansottoh.

At this moment the @FGRMexico via FEADLE requests the…

— Iván Soto Live (@ivansottoh) May 30, 2023

The Attorney General’s Office of the Republic (FGR), through the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Attention to Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE), requested precautionary measures to avoid the removal of the accused from the action of justice, a fact that was granted to the defense of the journalist.

Carlos Iván Soto filed a complaint with the FGR in July of last year against Aispuro Torres for allegedly carrying out acts of harassment and intimidation against him.

The ex-president had spoken by phone with the journalist to allegedly threaten him with starting legal proceedings against him since Iván Soto had denounced omissions by the Government of Durango, due to the fact that his daughter had allegedly been a victim of rape.

“The former state governor asserted his position 17 times during the call, since he repeatedly indicated that he was going to act against Carlos Iván before the State Prosecutor’s Office in his capacity as Governor,” reported the Pérez law firm, Rivera, Salas & Pena.

The administration of the former governor of Durango, José Rosas Aispuro (2016-2022), is under investigation by the local Prosecutor’s Office for a possible embezzlement of at least 1.5 billion pesos. At the moment, as a result of the proceedings, real estate and even luxury cars have been secured, while the Superior Audit of the Federation (ASF) had already warned of irregularities for more than 1,604 million pesos in the exercise of public spending during its six-year term. .

To public opinion regarding the connection to the process of the former governor of #DurangoJosé “N”, for the probable commission of the crime of illegal use of public force, to the detriment of the journalist Iván Soto. pic.twitter.com/ni5BGHbxYM

– Pérez Rivera, Salas and Peña / Legal Defense (@PspDefensa) May 30, 2023

According to information from the ASF itself, between 2017 and 2021 the Duranguense Executive Branch allegedly diverted money from public coffers by not exercising a designated budget for potable water and drainage programs, acquisition of goods and services not corresponding to its contract in the education sector and health services, payroll of workers terminated, not corresponding to the documentation delivered and even deceased; construction of a road with deficiencies, among others.

In addition, the Superior Audit Office of the State of Durango calculated that the “errors, omissions and inconsistencies” observed were equivalent to possible damage and/or losses to the State Public Treasury for 49 million 847 thousand 898 pesos in 2017; 53 million 624 thousand 403 pesos in 2018; 77 million 772 thousand 775 pesos in 2019; 24 million 417 thousand 354 in 2020; and 61 million 228 thousand 934 in 2021; for a total of 266 million 891 thousand 364 pesos in the five years mentioned.

For example, one million 707 thousand 073.29 pesos that had been destined for the Drinking Water, Drainage and Urban Treatment Program, money received from the National Water Commission (Conagua), were not exercised or returned to the Treasury of the Federation; and another 348 thousand 537.98 pesos were not clarified by the state government before the ASF, which would have been disbursed “as advances” and for which no evidence was provided that they were delivered to the corresponding municipalities.

A total of 11 million 870 thousand 639.97 pesos had an unknown whereabouts, since part of the resources received from the Fund for Financial Strengthening were not committed or accrued, nor were they returned to the Federation Treasury. More than 31.73 million of this same fund had been destined to payments for work concepts in a contract prepared by the State Public Security Executive Secretariat, which at the time of preparing the report, “did not correspond to the brand, model and specifications of the items contracted and paid (…), and no documentary evidence was presented of the modifications of the items contracted with their corresponding authorization”.

For 2018, the ASF detected that the Government of Rosas Aispuro had received 365 million 11 thousand 800 pesos from the Multiple Contribution Fund, of which there was an amount of 735 thousand 080.26 pesos not repaid to the federal Treasury or committed.

In the same year, it identified six municipalities (Otaez, Nazas, Pueblo Nuevo, Suchil, San Juan del Río and San Luis del Cordero) and six state agencies (Electoral Institute for Citizen Participation, Superior State Audit Office, College of Bachelors of the State of Durango, State Human Rights Commission, Chamber of Deputies, Political Coordination Board and General Secretariat of the State Congress, and the Institute for Municipal Development) that could not verify the use of resources from the Fund for Financial Strengthening for a total of 109 million 656 thousand 910.30 pesos.

— With information from Tamara Mares Rivera