by ANDALUSIA KNOLL
http://youtu.be/RKeu5n7eUsM
Alleged kidnapping and rape victim Yakiri Rubi Rubio is out on bail but could spend ten years in jail for “excess of legitimate defense” – turning her attacker’s knife back on him – in a case that reveals continuing problems of unequal justice in Mexico.
“If they judge us for having survived, the justice system wants us dead.”
This phrase, emblazoned on banners and protest signs, has become central to the campaign for the freedom of Yakiri Rubi Rubio, a 20-year-old woman in Mexico City who was recently incarcerated for murdering Miguel Angel Ramirez Anaya, a man who – she alleges – kidnapped, raped and attempted to kill her.
The issue of women’s right to defend their lives in the face of sexual violence and increasing femicide has come to the forefront with the case of Yakiri, as she is known by her supporters. Her case went viral with a photo of her, accompanied by a phrase clamoring for her freedom: “Machista violence is a crime that will also incarcerate you for defending your life. #YakiriLibre” After spending nearly three months in prison, Yakiri was released March 5, 2014, on $32,000 bail. She is no longer being accused of “qualified homicide” but still faces up to a 10-year sentence for the extremely uncommon charge of “excess of legitimate defense.”
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