Court Rules Former Mexico Prosecutor to Remain Jailed

A former Mexican deputy attorney general whom the United States wants to deport must remain jailed, but he could eventually get bail, an appellate court in Philadelphia ruled Friday.

The decision is promising for Mario Ruiz Massieu, who says he is being persecuted for criticizing the administration of Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and would be killed if he were returned to Mexico.

Ruiz Massieu faces charges in Mexico that he obstructed a probe into the 1994 assassination of his brother--Francisco Ruiz Massieu, the No. 2 official of Mexico’s ruling party--to shield the brother of then-President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

Ruiz Massieu was deemed a potential threat to U.S. foreign policy by Secretary of State Warren Christopher. But federal Judge Maryanne Trump Barry ruled Wednesday in Newark that those grounds were unconstitutionally vague and ordered him freed this week.

The release was stayed to allow the government time to seek a further stay. And two circuit judges ordered Friday that Ruiz Massieu remain jailed, but they also told his lawyers to confer with Justice Department attorneys to construct terms for bail.