Controversial Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

On Monday, Feb. 28, Mexico’s Supreme Court (SCJN) finally decided upon a date to discuss the case of Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) Alejandro Gertz Manero’s deceased brother, Federico Gertz, whose death has caused has caused repeated controversy among Gertz and his extended family, with the case now set for SCJN intervention on March 14.

The judges will be tasked with working through the amparos habeas corpus injunctions) granted by other judges in the cases of arrest warrants for Laura Morán Servín, Federico’s ex-wife of more than five decades, and the current imprisonment of the pair’s daughter, Alejandra Cuevas Morán. 

Gertz had previously accused these two relatives of committing negligent homicide against Federico, resulting in his death at age 85, an allegation the family has vehemently characterized as an abuse of power by the attorney general, though Gertz’ claims and influence as attorney general later resulted in the jailing of 69-year-old Cuevas Morán in the Santa Martha prison, where she has remained since October 2020.

“If the Attorney General of Mexico denounces you, the law is ‘what I say,’ and not what is actually written in the codes,” said Cuevas Morán’s son, Alonso Castillo Cuevas, this past June. “This is a violation of human rights orchestrated by the authorities themselves who withheld information to achieve the arrest of a 68-year-old lady.”

The extended Gertz family has gone on to claim that the attorney general’s contentious actions partially stemmed from his desire to own his brother’s possessions, as Gertz reportedly requested a 3.5 million-peso transfer from the family and many of Federico’s possessions, including art by Diego Rivera and Francisco Toledo, rugs and silver cutlery, upon his death. The family similarly asked the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to investigate Gertz’ alleged illegal enrichment in September 2021.

Now, nearly two months to the day after Castillo Cuevas begged SCJN head Arturo Zaldívar for justice in his mother’s case, the extended Gertz family may finally see a resolution to their troubles come the March 14 hearing.