Pubdate: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Page: A15 Copyright: 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 Author: Jose De Cordoba MEXICAN CONGRESSMAN STRIPPED OF IMMUNITY MEXICO CITY-Mexico's Congress voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to strip parliamentary immunity from a congressman accused of links to a drug cartel, the first time a sitting Mexican lawmaker has faced charges of ties to organized crime. Legislators voted 384-2 to lift the immunity of Julio Cesar Godoy, a congressman from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution. Mr. Godoy, 45 years old, has been accused by Mexican prosecutors of ties to La Familia, a violent cartel based in the western state of Michoacan. The move was a rare victory for President Felipe Calderon's effort to combat drug-related corruption among Mexican officials. A much-publicized crackdown on politicians with alleged ties to La Familia fell apart last year after prosecutors dropped charges against nearly all 35 officials, including mayors and police chiefs. Analysts and lawmakers hailed the vote as sending a strong message to drug cartels responsible for more than 31,000 deaths in the past four years. "It is our judgment that there is enough evidence to support the accusations by the Attorney General's Office," Cesar Augusto Santiago, the head of the congressional committee that investigated the case for two months, told his fellow lawmakers. As he spoke, Mr. Santiago held up a thick stack of papers he said were witness statements, documents and transcripts of tapes linking Mr. Godoy to organized crime. Mr. Godoy, the half-brother of Michoacan Gov. Leonel Godoy, has denied the charges, saying they are politically motivated. He didn't attend the session and was believed to be in hiding. His own political party voted largely against him. "We are supporting the motion because...this should be handled strictly according to the law," said Alejandro Encinas, leader of the congressional delegation of the PRD. Mr. Encinas urged the lawmaker to turn himself in. It isn't clear whether Mr. Godoy will be arrested immediately now that his immunity has been lifted, since he has also obtained a judicial order staying an arrest warrant issued last year. Prosecutors have asked the judge to lift the stay. Until now, the case has been an enormous embarrassment to Mexico's political establishment, underlining the extent to which drug cartels have penetrated politics and raising questions about whether politicians, if caught, can even be punished. The warrant for Mr. Godoy's arrest was issued last year as part of the crackdown on links between the La Familia drug cartel and politicians in Michoacan. At the time, Mr. Godoy was a congressional candidate. He went into hiding and won his seat. In September, he sneaked into Congress and took the oath of office, automatically winning immunity from prosecution. In Mexico, lawmakers can't be charged with crimes-a move aimed at protecting them from politically motivated prosecutions. When Mr. Godoy turned up in Congress, colleagues were divided. Many of his fellow PRD members argued that Mr. Calderon's crackdown on Michoacan politicians was mostly aimed at the PRD, which governs the state. But any support Mr. Godoy might have enjoyed withered quickly when tapes surfaced of an alleged telephone conversation between the lawmaker and Servando Gomez, a leader of the La Familia cartel. In the conversation, the two appear to be on very friendly terms, and the drug trafficker promises to support the lawmaker in his election campaign. Mr. Godoy's loss of immunity comes a week after federal police and soldiers fought members of La Familia in a two-day battle that cost the lives of five policemen and led to the death of Nazario Moreno, known as "The Craziest One," a leader of the organized-crime group. Since then, there have been a half-dozen demonstrations in areas controlled by La Familia by supporters of the cartel demanding that federal police be removed. Gunmen believed to belong to the cartel attacked several bank branches and gas stations in rural Michoacan Tuesday, the second consecutive day of such attacks. There were no reports of injuries. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake