They request to charge the director of the Carabineros for his actions during a social outbreak in Chile

Published at: 04/01/2024 10:24 AM

The North Central Regional Prosecutor's Office of Santiago requested the formal indictment of charges for “illegitimate pressures resulting in serious injuries and homicide” against the director of Carabineros de Chile, Ricardo Yáñez, due to his actions during the social outbreak of 2019.

“There is a request for formalization and we are waiting for the hearing to make a decision as a Government. We are waiting for the resolutions that justice will determine,” said the minister of the General Secretariat of Government, Camila Vallejo, as she entered the Palacio de La Moneda on Wednesday.

The local media outlet La Tercera explained that the letter was filed Tuesday afternoon by the North Center regional prosecutor, Xavier Armandáriz, who also requested the indictment of charges against former general director Mario Rozas and the former deputy director of the Carabineros, General (R) Diego Olate.

The prosecution's investigation focuses on determining the responsibility of the top Carabineros officers during the repression of the social outbreak of October 18, 2019, which lasted until March of the following year, and which resulted in the death of more than 30 demonstrators.

Prosecutor Ximena Chong has been one of the most insistent in investigating the facts, to the point of repeatedly requesting the appearance of Yáñez, who in March of last year decided not to give statements on the recommendation of her lawyers.

The official, who has been described by local media as “forceful and blunt”, undertook investigations in 2020 to clarify the case of a 16-year-old teenager who was pushed by a policeman from the Pío Nono Bridge to the Mapocho River. His investigation resulted in preventive detention for one of the uniformed personnel and a file against the rest of the police officers involved for cover-up.

However, this week, Yáñez's defense demanded before the national prosecutor, Ángel Valencia, the disqualification of the investigator of the case against him and also of Armandáriz, accusing them of “enmity, hatred or resentment” against Carabineros. The request has not yet been answered.

The possible accusation of Yáñez provoked the immediate reaction of the Chilean right. The vice-president of Democrats, Matías Walker, expressed his immediate support for the director of the Carabineros “without hesitation and without any hesitation”, claiming that this support is due to the institution's role in the face of the “siege” of crime.

RT/MAZO WRITING