El Chapo Guzmán’s lawyer is fighting for him to face trial in Mexico

• El Chapo Guzmán’s lawyer announces they want him tried in Mexico.
• He is currently in a maximum security prison in the United States.
• What is the drug kingpin asking for?

Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán Loera’s lawyer announces that they are fighting for him to be transferred to Mexico to face trial. He is currently in a maximum security prison in the US, serving a life sentence. His wife Emma Coronel and their son Ovidio, are also in prison, according to Quadratin.

In an exclusive interview, Michoacan lawyer José Refugio Rodríguez — who is part of the drug trafficker’s defense team —  said that they are currently working to return El Chapo to Mexico. However, he anticipated that it won’t be easy and they’re already facing a big obstacle.

WHAT IS THE MAIN OBSTACLE?

The lawyer says that they are arguing for deferred delivery, that is, Mexico would ask the US to transfer Joaquín Guzmán Loera to Mexico so that he can face the 11 criminal charges he faces there, but his defense has run into an obstacle.

The main impediment could be a treaty between Mexico and the United States for the Execution of Criminal Sentences since, if Mexico’s request does not proceed, there is no court or international treaty to which they can appeal.

WHAT DID EL CHAPO ASK?

By means of a letter and also in a message that he gave to his family, the lawyer reveals what El Chapo requested: “He asked us to continue fighting for him to come to Mexico. It’s what we have left, come back. It is difficult, it is extremely difficult, because if the United States does not want to, we do not have an international court to appeal to,” he told Quadratín.

And he reiterated that it will be complicated once the decision is already handed down in New York: “And it will be a long and adverse fight, because for the neighbor to the north, its policies are guarantees, so it does not conform to international contentious courts no from the United Nations, the International Criminal Court or the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.”

HIS LAWYER SEEKS TO CONVINCE THE MEXICAN FOREIGN OFFICE

El Chapo’s lawyer must convince the Mexican Foreign Ministry to make the petition to the United States government. For this they intend to appeal to the Execution of Criminal Sentences that exists between both countries, to bring the drug trafficker home and argue the right of the people sentenced to be close to their families to guarantee their right to reintegration.

It should be noted that, according to with Article V: “Any transfer in accordance with this Treaty shall be initiated by the Authority of the Transferring State. Nothing in the provisions of this Treaty shall prevent a prisoner from submitting a request to the Transferring State to consider his transfer.»