Defender of the Forests Freed
The Case of Felipe Arreaga
The Persecution of Mexican Opponents of Illegal Logging Continues
Only a few months after the successful effort that helped win the release of imprisoned anti-logging activist Isidro Baldenegro, EDLC learned of yet another case of a wrongfully imprisoned Mexican logging opponent. The case was that of Felipe Arreaga Sanchez, falsely charged and imprisoned in connection with the 1998 murder of the son of a powerful local logging operator.
Arreaga, a 56-year-old farmer turned environmental leader, was one of the founding members of OCESP, a group that opposed the rampant and often illegal logging in the mountains of Sierra de Petatlán in Guerrero state. For the past ten years, Arreaga and his fellow OCESP members had been locked in a struggle with Guerrero's logging interests.
While in prison, Arreaga, who suffers from chronic and severe back pain, was forced to share a 15-by-18-foot cell with ten other men, sleeping on cardboard with no blankets, and eating tortillas, or sometimes a few beans.
A Fabricated Case
The complaining witness in the case- a teenager at the time of the murder six years earlier- claimed that fourteen men were present and participating at the moment he and his younger brother (the victim) were attacked one night while driving their pickup truck on a rural road. All fourteen accused defendants just happened to be anti-logging activists. Moreover, the complaint was brought on the heels of opposition by the defendants to the father's renewed logging efforts in the area.
In addition to the highly suspicious timing of the accusations, the case suffered from a number of other glaring defects. 
One of the defendants who was claimed to have been present at the crime scene had died two years before the murder. A videotape that was filmed at the time of the murder showed Felipe Arreaga attending a wedding at a location that is a three-hour drive from the crime scene.
EDLC's Involvement
Tlachinollan Human Rights Center, a non-governmental organization in Guerrero representing Arreaga, agreed that his case would benefit from the assistance of American lawyers. At EDLC's request, Marcia Newlands, the partner at Heller Ehrman who had led the successful effort to win Isidro Baldenegro's release, agreed to help.
I want to tell you that during the long time I was in prison I never felt completely alone because you never stopped demonstrating your support.
- Felipe Arreaga, letter to supporters after his release from prison