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TENEJAPA, Mexico (AP) \u2014 Mexico\u2019s Supreme Court<\/a> held its first session outside its neoclassical building in Mexico City Thursday in a mountain town in the southern state of Chiapas, the start of its plan to bring the country\u2019s highest court to far-flung corners of the country.<\/p>\n Under a tent in the central square of Tenejapa, some 2,000 people listened to the court\u2019s deliberations.<\/p>\n Under a constitutional reform, the court\u2019s justices were popularly elected<\/a> last year for the first time. Its chief justice is Hugo Aguilar<\/a>, an Indigenous lawyer from the neighboring state of Oaxaca.<\/p>\n \u201cOften in our communities we only feel the effects of a decision\u201d taken far away, Aguilar said Thursday. Now, the goal is \u201cthat you see how we deliberate, that you know what we say, how we consider and make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of those present, Indigenous leaders and authorities, held signs that said \u201cright to self-determination.\u201d Others just came to listen and be part of a historic moment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes me happy that this new minister (Aguilar) comes out to the towns, to cities to carry out justice because we really need to listen to the people,\u201d said Mar\u00eda de la Cruz Velasco, president of a foundation that helps victims of femicide.<\/p>\n Among those present were members of the community La Candelaria, in the municipality of San Cristobal de las Casas, which has been demanding self-rule for years. The case made it to the Supreme Court and was one of the issues discussed Thursday.<\/p>\n The court\u2019s sessions can often be tedious and difficult for anyone outside the legal profession to follow, but Indigenous people and victims of violence have traditionally had an ally in the court. It has usually defended human rights with a progressive perspective even though some of the sentences handed down have not always been carried out.<\/p>\n Velasco recalled that when her daughter was killed, local courts did not want to classify the crime as a femicide, but the Supreme Court finally decided that it was not a normal homicide because it had a gender dimension. \u201cToday my daughter\u2019s (killer) is serving 55 years in prison,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n This court is the first elected by the people and the argument for doing so was in part to make it more responsive and accountable. The idea was widely criticized for politicizing Mexico\u2019s highest court<\/a>. The turnout for the election was extremely low<\/a> and the candidates tied to the governing party overwhelmingly won seats.<\/p>\n But on Thursday in Tenejapa, nestled in the mountains of Chiapas, that controversy was not discussed. There was gratitude that the court had come to them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n