El Chapo's Former Lawyer and an Ex-Drug Smuggler on the Ballot to Be Judges in Mexico

Ex-lawyer for Sinaloa Cartel boss El Chapo and former drug smuggler among candidates in Mexico’s judicial elections

Judicial reform raises concerns over rule of law in Mexico Critics fear reform may increase organised crime influence Election agency could disqualify ineligible candidates after vote CIUDAD JUAREZ (Mexico), May 24 — When residents in the state of Durango vote in Mexico’s first judicial elections next weekend, Leopoldo Chavez will be on the ballot for federal judge — despite the nearly six years he served in a US prison. Chavez was convicted on …

El Chapo's former lawyer and an ex-drug smuggler on the ballot to be judges in Mexico

By Cassandra Garrison

Mexico City, May 23 (EFE).- The Organization of American States (OAS) announced this Friday the beginning of the deployment of its electoral observer mission to examine the historic first election to the judiciary, on June 1, in Mexico. The mission, led by Chile’s former chancellor, Heraldo Muñoz Valenzuela, “starts this weekend its work” in Mexico, as indicated by the OAS in a statement.

Mediafax At the end of the next week, when the residents of Durango state will vote in the first judicial election in Mexico, Leopoldo Chavez will be on the ballot for the federal judge's role – despite the almost six years he spent in a U.S. prison. Chavez was convicted of drug-related offences: for contrabanding over 4 kilograms of methamphetamine in 2015. Durango is part of the Mexican Gold Triunghii region, a controlled region in which marij…

In an unprecedented process for Mexico, citizens will vote next month in the country’s first judicial elections. However, about twenty candidates with a criminal record, prior allegations of corruption or controversial connections in their professional history have been identified, as the civil rights group Defensaxs pointed out. One of the candidates, Leopoldo Chávez, is on the ballot for a federal judge, after having spent almost six years in …

Mexico is continuing to organise the first judicial elections in Durango, but the list is filled with previously controversial candidates.