In Chile, President Gabriel Boric pardoned 13 people yesterday Friday. Twelve of them) had been sentenced to prison terms for offenses committed during the social crisis where around thirty people died, more than 300 were blinded and thousands more injured. Their families have been demanding the release of their loved ones for three years. Right-wing parties denounce this measure.
Among these 12 prisoners, the youngest is 21, the oldest is 38, recalls our correspondent in Santiago, Naila Derroisne.
Two of them were convicted of attempted homicide, the others for arson, damage to public equipment or for throwing tear gas canisters during clashes with the police at the time of the social crisis more than three years ago. Their release was one of the campaign promises of the President Gabriel Boric. ” It was a difficult decision to make but these young people are not delinquents “, he said, referring in particular to the particular context events in 2019.
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” We asked for their release because many of them were victims of police montages. None of them are charged with blood crimes, none of our young people have been charged with conspiracy or setting fire to subway stations, underlines Sofia Purran, of the collective of the mothers of the prisoners of the revolt of 2019 at the microphone of Raphael Moranfrom the Spanish editorial staff of RFI. The vast majority have been accused of throwing molotov cocktails during the protests which have been suppressed. We succeeded in proving to the government that the young people were accused on the basis of fabrications. Alejandro Carvajal, for example, was accused of having set fire to the University of Valdivia: he was cleared and sentenced despite this to three years in prison when we proved that the police had infiltrated the demonstration “.
A campaign promise from Gabriel Boric
By pardoning these 12 people, Gabriel Boric partly respects the commitment he had made to the National Assembly of the Families of Political Prisoners, which moreover applauded the Chilean President, while affirming that their ” fight will continue until all the prisoners of the social revolt are freed “.
For its part, the Chilean right, totally opposed to this measure, announces that it is breaking off the dialogue with the government and is withdrawing from the negotiating table about a crucial agreement which was being discussed on the subject of security in the country. .