MEXICO’S controversial attorney general suffered a high-profile legal setback yesterday at the Supreme Court in an unusual case involving his own family that prompted allegations of abuse of power.

Alejandro Gertz has accused his former sister-in-law, Laura Moran, 94, and her daughter, Alejandra Cuevas, 67, of negligence and lack of care for his brother Federico, who died in 2015 aged 82.

Cuevas was detained in 2020 and held in prison while her mother faced an outstanding arrest warrant.

Gertz’s former in-laws, for their part, accused him of abuse of power and influence peddling.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court absolved the two women of all responsibility for the death of Gertz’s brother.

It ruled that the arrest warrants against them were unconstitutional and ordered Cuevas’ immediate release from prison.

Gertz, who took up the post in December 2018 after the election of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has faced scrutiny in the Mexican press for his conduct.

Lopez Obrador’s ex-legal adviser, Julio Scherer, alleged in a letter published by the weekly Proceso this month that Gertz asked him to intervene before judges to help his lawsuit against his former sister-in-law.

Gertz also faces questions about luxurious properties that he is reported to have bought in Mexico City, Madrid, Paris and New York.

Lopez Obrador, questioned by reporters about the controversies surrounding Gertz, declared in early this month that he still had confidence in the attorney general. – AFP, March 29, 2022.