In less than 15 days, one of the drivers of the governor of Tlaxcala, Lorena Cuéllar Cisneros, obtained his professional license and immediately became a judge, a position from which he was dismissed, and then appointed as Secretary Project Manager of the local Judicial Branch.
This is Alfredo Pérez Águila, who on December 5 was appointed as “interim judge” of the Family Court specialized in urgent matters for women who live in situations of violence with jurisdiction throughout the State of Tlaxcala.
The court, attached to the Superior Court of Justice of the State (TSJE), was inaugurated on December 4, and the president of the TSJE, Anel Bañuelos Meneses, boasted about it as “unique in its kind.”
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A day later, Pérez Águila, who has been a member and activist of Morena since 2023, assumed the position of “interim judge” without having experience in gender issues and as a litigator, according to activists from various organizations that work in defense of women.
“A professional certificate that certifies the Bachelor’s degree in Law is not enough, it requires, first of all, empathy with women victims of violence, studies and training with a gender perspective. We are tired of being re-victimized,” said Haydee Noya, from the feminist organization Abandona el Miedo, based in Tlaxcala.
Career path
Before joining the Judiciary, Pérez Águila was “Head of private logistics support” and was in the Coordination of tours and official events of the local president’s office, with “driver” functions, according to the staff of workers of the Government of Tlaxcala; He received a gross monthly salary, according to the salary and wage table, of 28 thousand 332.05 pesos.
Among his work experience, he was also assigned to the Office of representation of the national coordination of Prospera, from February 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020, and Head of Training Liaison. In the Senate of the Republic he served as administrative assistant, from February 1, 2014 to August 31, 2018, under the fee regime for the provision of professional services for an amount of 38 thousand 700 pesos per month.
Another of her merits was having presented an “amicus curiae” brief in 2016, when Cuéllar Cisneros was a candidate for the local government sponsored by the PRD, but when she was defeated by the PRI, she challenged the election, and in the trial SUP-JDC-1776/2016 she accused political violence based on gender.
The activist Yeny Charrez called the appointment of the governor’s driver to the position of judge specializing in gender violence issues a “scoundrel act” against women.
“Not only has he been the driver, but he has never litigated in his life. From the Women with Power Movement we demand justice and we are against the appointment of this judge,” she said.
He clarified that it is not about stigmatizing the profession of driver because whoever practices it is also in a position to improve themselves with professional studies, “but an explanation must be given of how the hell a driver becomes a judge from one day to the next,” he added.
According to Pérez Águila’s curriculum documents, made public on the local government’s transparency platforms, he completed his law degree in 2017, but according to the National Registry of Professions he did not obtain his professional license until 2024, issued by the Open Education Center based in Puebla; that is, he lacks experience as a litigator, because after the new criminal justice system came into force, every lawyer must have a degree and a professional license.
Collective rejection
After the protest demonstrations, the Judicial Council dismissed the driver from his role as judge, but made him a courtroom designer. Civil organizations and litigants reacted negatively to the appointment of Alfredo Pérez Águila as “interim judge,” which caused the local Judicial Council to hold an ordinary session and agree to his dismissal. Instead, they appointed Heriberta Guadalupe Morales Hernández as the new interim judge specializing in urgent matters for women in situations of violence.
In a press release, the State Judicial Branch argued that the judge’s decision and move responded to the comments and contributions made by those seeking justice and litigants interested in the expeditious and highly professional administration of justice.
However, it avoided reporting that as soon as Pérez Águila was dismissed as a specialized judge, he was also appointed as “Secretary of the Chamber in support of the Projection,” directly in office at the Comptroller’s Office of the Judicial Branch of the State of Tlaxcala and the TSJE, as of last December 17.
However, she avoided reporting that as soon as Pérez Águila was dismissed as a specialized judge, he was also appointed as “Secretary of the Court in support of the Projection”, directly in functions in the Comptroller of the Judicial Power of the State of Tlaxcala and of the TSJE, as of last December 17.
The president of the TSJE justifies herself
The president of the TSJE, Anel Bañuelos Meneses, stated that the designation of the governor’s driver as a “specialized judge” was due to the fact that it was not possible to submit the position of judges to a competition, before the entry into force of the new process of election by popular vote of judges, female judges, and male magistrates, thus justifying
“These positions were temporary, in fact this year we could no longer compete for the positions of judges, due to the judicial reform that is already in the works,” she declared to the press at the end of her work report, in the Xicohténcatl Theater.
And then she admitted that “due to some opinions, statements that have been made to us, which are very important because they mainly come from those seeking justice, from litigants, from activists and who seek precisely not only to make justice more efficient, but also to make the function that a judge performs very professional, the decision was made to make this removal in order to have an adequate profile,” she argued.
–Was it recommended by the governor? she was questioned.
–No, in no way, the magistrate assured bluntly.
Source: eluniversal
