July 5th, 2017
I am Esteban Gómez Jiménez of San Sebastián Bachajón. On the morning of Tuesday, June 12, a person arrived at my house and invited me to cut firewood on his land, but in another community. I left to wait for the car on the highway when a collective taxi passed there at the bridge. “Can you take me to the community Pamalja?” When I got out of the taxi, the owner of the land was already waiting and we began to walk like two hours. There we began to cut firewood, on his land, at like two in the afternoon. Suddenly, public security arrived. There is one person, Manuel Jiménez Moren, who brought the police. He is a member of the PRI. He said to me you are Esteban, where are you from? Here in Salto de Tigre, turn off your chain saw, let’s go.
There they apprehended me, blindfolded me, and took me to Palenque to the public prosecutor. There they beat me asking me if I participated in this crime. But I was not doing anything when they apprehended me. I am searching for money for my children, my family. I am not robbing. I am innocent. They fabricated crimes against me, and I am here paying in the prison, suffering. My family and children are suffering too. I have been imprisoned for five years. The bad authorities do not like that I am in an organization to defend mother earth. For that, they fabricated this crime in which I never participated.
Here I am kidnapped, here in prison. I want you to help me, to ask for my immediate freedom because I am innocent. I want to write more but it is difficult, because we don’t speak Spanish well.
Translated from the original here: http://noestamostodxs.tk/carta-de-esteban-gomez-preso-del-ejido-san-sebastian-bachajon/