The World - News from Feb. 21, 1989
A former Mexican army soldier, who admitted he shot 60 political prisoners and helped kill more than a hundred others, was granted political refugee status in Canada, according to his lawyer. Zacarias Osorio Cruz, 32, now lives near Montreal and is employed as an agricultural worker. A report published in the Toronto Star said Cruz told authorities that between 1977 and 1982, he was ordered to secretly kill prisoners who were “troublesome or bothersome to the high command.” The Mexican government has denied having political prisoners. Attorney Stewart Istvanffy said Cruz tried to desert three times before slipping illegally into the United States in 1982. He moved to Canada in 1987.
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