A judge linked Uriel Rivera Martínez to trial for sexual abuse against President Claudia Sheinbaum, which occurred on Tuesday in Mexico City's Historic Center. This adds to another process for assaulting a 25-year-old woman the same day. Rivera will remain in preventive prison while both cases are investigated.
On Saturday, a control judge opened a trial against Uriel Rivera Martínez, 33 years old, for the crime of sexual abuse against President Claudia Sheinbaum. The incident occurred last Tuesday, when Sheinbaum was walking through Mexico City's Historic Center greeting citizens. A man in an apparent state of intoxication approached, tried to kiss her neck, and then hugged her from behind. The attack was recorded in a video that went viral on social media.
Hours later, federal authorities arrested Rivera and transferred him to the Mexico City Sexual Crimes Prosecutor's Office. Penal sources indicated it was a flagrant sexual abuse under the Penal Code for Mexico City, though no aide to the president intervened at the time. On Wednesday, during her press conference, Sheinbaum reported that she filed a complaint against the subject, although she hesitated to do so. 'I did it to send a message to all women and all men', she explained.
The previous Friday, Rivera had already been prosecuted for sexual abuse against a 25-year-old woman, which also occurred on Tuesday in the capital's center, after the attack on Sheinbaum. The victim reported him to officers who were watching him, leading to his arrest. He will remain in justified preventive prison in the Norte Penitentiary, with two months for the closure of complementary investigation in the Sheinbaum case.
The assault has sparked national outrage over the persistence of violence against women. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), more than 70 percent of women over 15 years old have experienced at least one type of violence: sexual (48 percent), psychological (52 percent), or physical (35 percent). Organizations estimate a 'dark figure' of over 90 percent of unreported cases.