Prominent Mexican journalist Sanjuana Martínez was arrested on July 5, 2012, in the state of Nuevo León under unclear circumstances related to a civil custody dispute, and was released from jail the following day, according to news reports. Martínez was detained by armed police, which is unusual in a civil case, the reports said.
The judge who ordered the journalist’s detention had been the subject of earlier reporting by Martínez, news reports said. The journalist, who writes for the daily La Jornada, had reported critically in 2008 on Judge Guerrero Delgado’s role in ordering a raid on a center for victims of domestic violence.
Martínez wrote on her website after her release that both the judge and her ex-husband, Carlos Castresana, a prominent Spanish judge, were present at the time of the arrest. In a July 10, 2012, editorial, Castresana wrote that he had asked the court to intervene after Martínez had allegedly refused him visitation rights of their children.
Delgado ordered Martínez imprisoned for up to 36 hours, news reports said. The police did not provide a warrant or a reason for the arrest at the time, news reports said.