Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jan 2009
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/bc7El3Yo
Website: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: James Rainey and Ari B. Bloomekatz

MEXICAN JOURNALIST RELEASED FROM U.S. CUSTODY

Emilio Gutierrez Soto Had Been Held in a Texas Facility for Seven 
Months. He Fled Mexico Because He Said He Feared for His Life After 
Writing Critically of the Military.

U.S. immigration authorities surprised press-freedom activists 
Thursday when they released a journalist -- fleeing alleged Mexican 
government persecution -- who had been held in a Texas detention 
center for seven months.

Emilio Gutierrez Soto walked out of the Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement facility in El Paso late in the afternoon and expressed 
relief that he would soon be reunited with his 15-year-old son.

"I still don't believe it. I need to wake up," Gutierrez, 46, said in 
a telephone interview.

The case had outraged Reporters Without Borders and other media 
advocacy groups. They said the journalist -- seeking asylum after 
purported death threats -- endured the extended detention without a 
hearing or adequate explanation from the U.S. government.

Gutierrez and his son, Oscar, crossed the border in June and turned 
themselves over to immigration authorities, saying they feared for 
their lives if they remained in Mexico.

The reporter said he had been threatened after writing several 
articles critical of the tactics of the Mexican military, which has 
been attempting to crack down on drug traffickers.

A 2005 story for El Diario del Noroeste claimed that drunken soldiers 
raided a hotel in northern Chihuahua state.

Other Gutierrez stories reported on alleged thievery by the military.

The veteran journalist wrote last spring about how soldiers and a 
commanding officer reportedly threatened him during a meeting at a 
restaurant in his hometown of Ascension.

Not long afterward, he said, dozens of soldiers wearing masks awoke 
him and his son in the middle of the night -- reportedly looking for 
weapons and drugs. When they found nothing, he said, they left 
without explanation.

Despite warnings, Gutierrez described the threats in the newspaper. A 
friend tipped him that the next time, the soldiers planned to kill 
him, he said Thursday.

A few months after Gutierrez and his son were placed in custody, the 
teenager was released to family friends in the U.S. But Gutierrez 
remained locked up.

His lawyer, Carlos Spector, complained that the reporter had not 
received a prompt hearing, unlike many illegal border crossers.

After a postponement, the case was scheduled for March, more than 
eight months after he arrived in the U.S.

Alfredo Campos of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement in El Paso 
declined to comment, citing confidentiality rules. He referred the 
matter to a spokeswoman, who also declined to comment.

Spector said the authorities, who work under the Homeland Security 
Department, had once called Gutierrez a "threat to the community." 
But the lawyer said officials offered no evidence to back up the claim.

Spector said authorities also offered no explanation for the sudden release.

Gutierrez speculated his fortunes might have changed with the arrival 
of the Obama administration, although he could offer no details to 
buttress the claim.

Lucie Morillon of Reporters Without Borders said stories by The Times 
and other publications kept the pressure on authorities.

She bemoaned Gutierrez's extended captivity.

"He spent more time in jail than some criminals," she said.

Morillon urged the government to grant the reporter permanent asylum.

"Sending him back to Mexico would be tantamount to sentencing him to 
death," she said.

As for Gutierrez, he said his only plans were to hug his son and 
begin a new life, living with cousins in Texas.

He said the drug wars and the military's heavy response had taken a 
toll on his homeland, leaving his countrymen frightened and confused.

"The freedom to write doesn't exist in Mexico," he said. "Freedom of 
expression doesn't exist." 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake