Lawyer Silvia Delgado who defended drug lord elected as decide

A former defence lawyer for the jailed drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has been elected as a decide in Mexico’s first-ever judicial elections.

Tallies revealed on Tuesday confirmed that Silvia Delgado had received sufficient votes to safe a place as a neighborhood prison decide within the metropolis of Ciudad Juárez, on the US-Mexico border.

Her candidacy was one of the controversial within the election held on 1 June.

A number one transparency organisation accused Delgado of being one in every of a number of candidates with alleged hyperlinks to organised crime on the poll sheet, an accusation she dismissed vehemently, arguing that she had merely been doing her job by defending El Chapo.

The 51-year-old lawyer was a part of the defence staff for El Chapo earlier than the infamous drug lord was extradited from Mexico to the USA in 2017.

The chief of the Sinaloa cartel was discovered responsible of drug trafficking in 2019 and is serving a life sentence in a supermax jail in Colorado.

In an interview with the BBC forward of the election, Delgado argued that El Chapo was entitled to authorized counsel and dismissed strategies of a battle of curiosity, ought to she be elected as a decide.

Following the publication of the voting tally on Tuesday, Delgado stated she would chorus from commenting till her win had been formally confirmed.

The judicial election was the primary of its type to be held in Mexico following a radical reform introduced in by the governing Morena social gathering.

Its backers stated electing judges – together with Supreme Courtroom justices – in a direct vote would make the judiciary extra democratic and beholden to voters.

However its critics argued that it undermined the independence of the judiciary.

Turnout was low at 13% – the bottom in any federal vote held in Mexico – which many observers stated confirmed that there was little enthusiasm amongst Mexicans for selecting judges instantly.

Nonetheless, President Claudia Sheinbaum stated the election had been a convincing success.