Posted on 10/02/2006 7:27:42 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
MÉXICO, D.F. — The nation’s Defense Secretariat has submitted a proposal that calls for a 60-year prison sentence for soldiers who leave their posts to work for drug cartels.The bill submitted to Congress calls for defecting soldiers, such as those known as “Zetas,” and others who work for organized crime groups or who become guerrillas, to be charged with treason.
Defecting in order to join organized crime gangs would become a crime under the Code of Military Justice.
The proposal calls for the loss of service benefits and the prison sentence “for a military man who alone or with others collaborates with a group or organization dedicated to illicit activities.”
Under one of the 11 sections of the proposal, a soldier can be accused of collaborating with organized crime or other groups by using the military’s infrastructure to recruit or to pass on information about army activities.
For example, in the fifth section of the proposal, a soldier can draw a 30-year prison sentence for establishing verbal or other relationships with people opposed to the army and then passing on “subjects concerning the activities of the army.”
Should the proposal become law, then the 60-year sentence will become the second longest one in the Federal Penal Code, behind the 70-year term for kidnapping then killing a person.
Currently, a soldier who is caught deserting his post in order to join an organized crime group is jailed and prosecuted under federal civil laws.
For example, on July 16 in Cunduacan, Tabasco state, authorities captured one Mateo Diaz Lopez, known as “Commandante Mateo.” He was formerly a member of the 15th Motorized Cavalry Regiment, stationed in Reynosa, Tamaulipas state.
The procedure followed was that the Tabasco state police turned Diaz Lopez over to a state prosecutor who charged him with organized crime activities then remanded his case to federal authorities in Mexico City.
As a prisoner, he was interrogated and assigned a cell in a maximum-security area in a Jalisco state prison. Diaz Lopez was charged with three crimes, those of participating in organized crime activities, endangering the public’s health and using a firearm reserved for the army.
Under the terms of the proposal, Diaz Lopez would be transferred to a military prison, prosecuted by the army’s judge advocate general and have his case heard by a military judge.
In addition, the crime of treason would be added to the original three charges.
Charged with treason, the defendant would draw the 60-year prison sentence.
Under current law, Diaz Lopez would draw a term of between 20-40 years for violating federal organized crime laws.
The proposed changes are a part of an extensive updating of the Code of Military Justice, which is 73 years old.
(Translated by Mark Webber of the Times staff.)
We should have the list so we can send them back with the other 1,000,000 criminals they have "sent" us.
Zeta Ping!
Uh oh! More beheadings are on the way.
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