Salinas found guilty of murder

Salinas found guilty of murder

TOLUCA, Mexico (Reuters): The brother of former Mexican
president Carlos Salinas was convicted of murder and sentenced to
50 years in prison on Thursday in a dramatic finale to Mexico's
most celebrated trial in recent history.

Judge Ricardo Ojeda found Raul Salinas, 52, guilty of plotting
the 1994 murder of Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu, the No. 2 man in
the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party to which the
Salinas brothers belonged.

"I must say there was no confession from the guilty party nor
direct proof of his guilt. But his responsibility in the crime
was shown through circumstantial evidence," Ojeda said in a
written statement.

Salinas' lawyers said they would appeal the verdict and had
two more chances by law to free their client, who has come to
symbolize how the once untouchable power of Mexican politicians
has come undone through democratic change.