Parents of the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students attended the court hearing of former Guerrero governor Ángel Aguirre, which took place inside the Almoloya prison facility, according to La Jornada.
The hearing marks the latest step in the legal proceedings against Aguirre, who faces charges related to the 2014 disappearance of the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa rural teachers' college. La Jornada reports that the parents were present in the courtroom during the proceedings.
Aguirre was previously ordered to remain in pretrial detention in connection with the case, with a judge denying his request for house arrest, according to La Jornada. The former governor has been held at the Almoloya prison, a maximum-security facility in central Mexico.
The case stems from the night of September 26, 2014, when students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School in Iguala, Guerrero, were attacked by local police. The 43 students were taken away and have not been found. The disappearance sparked national and international outrage and remains one of Mexico's most significant human rights cases.
A mother of one of the missing students said Aguirre "knew what happened," as reported by El Financiero. El País described Aguirre as a prisoner who is both cheap and expensive for the state, while SinEmbargo detailed the political network, including figures like former governor Rubén Figueroa and the "Los Chuchos" faction, that allegedly supported Aguirre for years.
The parents' presence at the hearing signals their continued push for accountability in the case. Their next move will be to monitor the ongoing judicial process and press for answers about what happened to their sons.
