FGR must deliver to the INE information from files linked to Peña Nieto, Lozoya and the Odebrecht case

The Electoral Court of the Judicial Power of the Federation resolved an action that dates back to a complaint filed by the PRD and Morena before the electoral body against the former president of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto, as well as people from his cabinet

(MEXICO – TEPJF), January 20, 2022.- The Superior Chamber of the Electoral Court of the Judicial Power of the Federation ( TEPJF ) unanimously resolved to order the Attorney General of the Republic ( FGR ) to provide information, as well as deliver investigation folders, to the National Electoral Institute ( INE ) on Enrique Peña Nieto , Emilio Lozoya and the Odebrecht case .

According to the press release issued by the Superior Chamber, the documents that the Prosecutor’s Office must deliver to the institute correspond to four investigation folders , which are related to an inspection procedure in which the INE is currently in the process of issuing judgment.

Based on the report of the events, the issue dates back to 2017 when the Democratic Revolution Party ( PRD ) and the National Regeneration Movement ( Morena ) filed a series of complaints before the electoral body against events that occurred with the then candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, Peña Nieto, the Institutional Revolutionary Party ( PRI ), the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico ( PVEM ), the former head of Petróleos Mexicanos ( Pemex ), Emilio Lozoya Austin, as well as the legal entities Odebrecht and OHL .

The complainant political institutes accused Odebrecht and OHL of making a probable “contribution of a prohibited entity” in favor of the political campaign of the former governor of the State of Mexico; contribution that would have been received by the PRI and the PVEM.

The complaints were for events during the campaign in 2018 (Photo: Cuartoscuro)

He added that in April 2021, the INE’s Technical Control Unit asked the FGR for information and copies on the subject; however, it received a negative response from the authority, because it was argued that these documents are of a confidential nature , for which they had to “safeguard the secrecy of the investigations.”

Given the response received, Edmundo Jacobo Molina, executive secretary of the General Council of the National Electoral Institute, filed a lawsuit before the Electoral Tribunal; case that was presented in 2021 before the plenary session by the previous presiding magistrate, Reyes Rodríguez Mondragón, and it was determined that ” ministerial secrecy is not opposable to the INE’s power of control . “

“The previous determination was based, essentially, on the fact that the public ministry must take into account that both the General Law of Electoral Institutions and Processes, as well as the National Code of Criminal Procedure, indicate that the federal authorities, such as the FGR, must collaborate with the electoral authorities, on this occasion with the INE, in the exercise of its constitutional powers, such as auditing”

Finally, the TEPJF announced that the fact that the FGR delivers reserved information to the INE does not mean that it will lose its quality, since the collegiate body has the obligation to keep it protected and to use it exclusively for strictly necessary purposes.

“Therefore, the plenary session linked the FGR to deliver the requested documentation and information to the INE, so that the Electoral Institute can comply with its constitutional oversight powers, ” the Court ruled.

The Odebrecht investigation folders are confidential, according to the FGR (Photo: EFE/Sebastião Moreira)

On its own, on January 14, the Prosecutor’s Office began the process to declassify the investigation folder regarding the Odebrecht case , which includes 36 statements by 22 public officials from Enrique Peña Nieto’s six-year term, made before the Public Ministry between 2017 and 2018.

Among the names that appear in the documents is that of Lozoya Austin , who in his ministerial statement of August 17, 2017 reserved his right to testify and denied “any accusation that is made or has been made against me.”

There are also characters from the current administration at the head of Pemex , such as André Arthur Glorieux González, Arturo Arregui García, José Aarón Marrufo Ruiz, Armando Hiram Hinojosa González, Sylvia Uribe Arredondo Cepeda, José Samuel Sánchez Reyes and Leonardo Cornejo Serrano.

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