Pubdate: Sat, 21 Jan 1999 Source: Reuters Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited. Author: Dan Trotta SALINAS VERDICT SAID GROUNDED IN POLITICS, NOT LAW MEXICO CITY, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The law in Mexico caught up with a former president's family on Thursday with the murder conviction of Raul Salinas, brother of ex-President Carlos Salinas. But rather than signalling a victory for justice, it is more a case of politics invading the courtroom, analysts said following the verdict. "We're not seeing an act of justice in the strict sense, but rather a political action disguised as justice," Lorenzo Meyer, a Mexican historian told Reuters. "But I don't think many Mexicans will regret the verdict." Judge Ricardo Ojeda acknowledged he had scant motive and only circumstantial evidence on which to convict Salinas for the 1994 murder of Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu, a rising star in politics and former brother-in-law of Raul Salinas. The political winner, experts agree, is current President Ernesto Zedillo, who staked much of his presidency on approving the arrest of Raul Salinas in February 1995. Less than three months after taking over from Carlos Salinas, Zedillo approved Raul Salinas' arrest when an investigation indicated Raul ordered the murder of Ruiz Massieu. "This is good for Zedillo because he looks vindicated," said Vicente Licona, a respected political pollster. The verdict also complicated any hopes Carlos Salinas might have had of returning to Mexico. The disgraced former president fled into self-imposed exile after his brother's arrest. Ever since the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) came to power in 1929, former presidents and their families were always suspected of being above the law. The Salinas brothers rose up through that system. Their father was a former cabinet minister and ambassador to Moscow. Their sister, Adriana, married into it, taking Ruiz Massieu as a husband, although they divorced years before Ruiz Massieu's political ascent and eventual murder. Carlos Salinas became a cabinet minister and Raul Salinas a high-level bureaucrat under the administration of former President Miguel de la Madrid (1982 to 1988). When Carlos Salinas was elected president in 1988, Raul tagged along, continuing to work for a government food assistance programme and later a public works agency. But according to a Swiss investigation of Raul Salinas' wealth, he peddled his influence to international drug traffickers, raking in at least $500 million by granting them protection to ship cocaine through Mexico. Amid mounting evidence of financial crimes, commentators believed Raul Salinas might be cleared of murder because of a seemingly weak case and the poor reputation of the Attorney General's Office (PGR) for conducting investigations. The chief prosecutor who won the conviction, Jose Luis Ramos Rivera, inherited a case in a shambles. The first special prosecutor, ironically the victim's brother, covered up evidence in the case in order to exonerate Salinas, while the second special prosecutor got caught fabricating evidence against Salinas, officials said. "No one can say with full conviction whether he is guilty or innocent," said Joel Estudillo of the Mexican Institute of Political Studies. "Because of all the failures the PGR experienced, the problems in getting proof together, and the arguments of the defence that appeared very valid, that is what generates doubts." - --- MAP posted-by: Pat Dolan