Mexico ( Mexico to Fight Death Sentence for 3 Mexicans in Malaysia )

MEXICO CITY – The Mexican government vowed Wednesday to ensure that all legal remedies are exhausted on behalf of three of its citizens who are facing the hangman’s noose in Malaysia for drug trafficking.

The Mexican foreign ministry made the commitment hours after Malaysia’s Court of Appeals upheld the death sentences imposed on brothers Luis Alfonso, Jose Regino and Simon Gonzalez Villarreal.

Mexico “maintains a position contrary to the death penalty” and will actively monitor the course of the Gonzalez Villarreal brothers’ appeal to Malaysia’s Supreme Federal Court, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The brothers and two other men – a Singaporean and a Malaysian – were arrested by police in a Dec. 4, 2008, raid that resulted in the seizure of 29 kilos (64 pounds) of methamphetamines worth 44 million ringgit ($15 million).

The three Mexicans testified at their May 2012 trial that they were merely cleaning the clandestine drug-making factory where they were detained.

None of the brothers has a criminal record in Mexico.

News that the Malaysian appellate court rejected the trio’s appeal stunned the Gonzalez Villarreal family, who had expected a more favorable outcome.

The brothers accuse Malaysian authorities of making them into scapegoats because they don’t speak the language and lack the means to defend themselves in court. EFE