Pablo Lopez Alavez, an environmental defender imprisoned for alleged murders, has endured nearly 15 years of incarceration in Villa de Etla, Oaxaca. His detention has been deemed arbitrary by the UN human rights office, with advocates claiming that he was targeted for opposing logging in his community. Despite calls for his release, a retrial confirmed his 30-year sentence. Alavez's activism stems from a long-standing land dispute impacting his Indigenous community's resources, reflecting the broader conflict between environmental protection and economic exploitation in the region.
I imagine you'd like to know whether I'm within the truth, or if I am with the lies, he says, before apologising for his Spanish. Lopez Alavez comes from the Indigenous community of San Isidro Aloapam, and speaks a Zapotec dialect as his first language.
Some organisations argue that the true reason he is behind bars is his resistance to logging near his community, and have called for his release. But their call has fallen on closed ears.
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