Chilean 14 Bomb Case: Ministry of the Interior and State Prosecution Loose Challenge

Chilean 14 Bomb Case: Ministry of the Interior and State Prosecution Loose Challenge

Published May 16^th, 2012

The Court did not accept the challenge presented against the Judges of the Public hearing, moreover were made to pay the legal fees and a fine on such an action. Minister Hinzpeter’s witness testimony forthcoming.

The Court of Appeals of Santiago unanimously rejected the challenge presented by the Attorney General’s office of Santiago South and the Minister of the Interior against the three Judges involved in the Bombs Case for alleged impartiality.

The Court resolved that the decisions made by the three magistrates was not biased, regarding certain evidence and expert’s reports that were tossed out of court and cut back five months of trial, contrary to the challenge made by the Interior Minister and the Secretary of State.

Both institutions tried to disqualify the three Judges, Marcela Sandoval, Carlos Carillo and Blanca Rojas, as they rejected some of the evidence that was made on behalf of the prosecution; the evidence was referring to alleged traces of TNT found in the knapsacks of one of the accused, Omar Hermosilla.

They judges that carried out the trial of the Bombs Case stated that this evidence did not correspond to the charges that Hermosilla had been processed for (Placement of an explosive artifact and criminal financing under the Antiterrorist Law), but corresponded to the charge of Illicit Terrorist Association for which he had been discharged.

In this resolution, the Court also pointed out that this was not the time to challenge the Magistrate since the prosecution and the Minister of the Interior can nullify the trial when it is over, if there is speculation of partiality on behalf of the Judges.

In this way, the Court sentenced the prosecution and the Ministry to pay the costs of the challenge’s proceedings, since there was no motive to present it in this way and paralyze a trial that was already underway for the last 5 months. A fine set out by the Court would also have to be paid by the Prosecution and the Ministry of the Interior.

Testimony of Minister Hinzpeter forthcoming

Defense attorney Rodrigo Roman of the Popular Defense Committee, representing Omar Hermosilla, reiterated that the challenge had been a maneuver by both institutions to detain the trial and stop the witness testimony of Interior Minister, Rodrigo Hinzpeter in the trial.

The declaration of the Minister is precisely contemplated as soon as the trial resumes on Tuesday afternoon. The testimony has been solicited by the Defense of the accused, also having called the ex-Chief Attorney General of Santiago South, Alejandro Peña, to the stand as a witness.

The Interior Minister’s attorney, Ximena Risco, stated that she will not resort to the Supreme Court to insist on the disqualification of the Magistrate involved in the Bombs Case.

Taken from hommodolars

Distributed by the Women’s Coordinating Committee for a Free a Wallmapu [Toronto]