Mexico’s Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero said the federal prosecutors’ office will appeal a judge’s decision that absolved and freed Israel Vallarta, who spent almost two decades in prison without a verdict on kidnapping charges linked to the 2005 “Los Zodiaco” case. Gertz argued that six kidnapping victims “cannot be left undefended” and that the state has an ethical, moral and legal duty to seek reparations on their behalf. The appeal follows Vallarta’s 1 August release after a court in the State of Mexico issued a not-guilty ruling. Vallarta had been arrested in December 2005 alongside then-partner Florence Cassez in a case later tainted by evidence of a staged police operation broadcast on television. Gertz Manero also said the Fiscalía General de la República will challenge a separate ruling that released Luis Villagrán, a prominent organizer of migrant caravans, who had been charged with organized crime and human-trafficking offences. Prosecutors presented what they described as 75 pieces of evidence against Villagrán, which the judge declined to examine, the attorney general said.