Three protesters crucified themselves in front of the State Congress building in Mexico's Cintalapa on Friday, demanding the release of an activist charged with cattle rustling who was defending the rights of the indigenous population.
The activists of the 'Peasant Front Ricardo Flores Magon' anarchist movement, Lucirelia Gomez Sanchez, Juana Gomez Gomez and Asuncion Rodriguez Gomez, were tied to wooden crosses while five other protesters sewed up their own lips to mark the beginning of a 15-day hunger strike. Activist Lucirelia Gomez Sanchez was taken to a local hospital with health problems.
The protest was organized in support of the fellow activist Florentino Gomez Giron, who has been imprisoned for six months on charges of cattle rustling.
The protesters claim authorities faked evidence to put Giron behind bars. Apart from advocating human rights in Chigton, Giron called on to Mexican authorities to act more decisively in investigation of kidnapping and murder of 43 students in Mexican state of Guerrero.
Forty-three Mexican students went missing in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero on September 27 following a protest to support the rights of rural teachers.
Allegedly they were abducted by police and handed over to members of the local Guerreros Unidos gang who murdered students and burned their bodies near Iguala in the Guerrero state in an effort to remove evidence of the killings.
The murder of students sparked mass protests throughout Mexico, including the capital Mexico-City.
Following strong criticism of Mexico City's law enforcement actions during the protests, police chief Jesus Rodriguez Almeida resigned on Friday.