Chile sentences former police officer who blinded senator during protest in 2019 to 12 years in prison

by

The Chilean Justice sentenced former police captain Patricio Maturana to 12 years and 183 days in prison for having fired a tear gas canister that blinded the now senator Fabiola Campillai during a protest in 2019. The decision was announced this Tuesday (11). ).

Maturana had been found guilty of the assault on September 1 and was awaiting sentencing. At the time of the episode, Fabiola was at a bus stop, along with her sister, to go to work — therefore, she did not even participate in the mobilization.

According to medical reports, she suffered damage to her eyeballs and a traumatic brain injury with fractures to the bones of her face and skull, which left her blind and caused her to lose her sense of smell and taste.

The case was one of the most notorious in the midst of the government’s repression against the protests that took over the country that year and that, years later, would culminate in the election of a Constituent Assembly that drafted a new Magna Carta. The content, however, was rejected by the population of the country in the first week of September.

Fabiola Campillai, in a video shared on social networks, said she was happy and relieved. “They will never give back the life they had before, but a little justice soothes our hearts,” she said. She also promised to continue fighting for cases similar to hers to be punished in the country’s courts.

The repression by the Chilean police, criticized by international organizations, left dozens of people blind. “Justice has been done in this country for human rights violators. A precedent has been set; a before and an after,” Campillai continued.

Last November, she was elected senator in the country. Although independent, she supported the current president, the leftist Gabriel Boric, in the second round of the elections, contested against the ultra-rightist José Antonio Kast, and continues to support the government.

The NGO Amnesty International celebrated the ex-carabinero’s sentence, but also called for other similar cases to be tried as soon as possible. “In a context where less than 1% of complaints ended in convictions, this news constitutes an important step towards advancing truth and justice for victims of human rights violations committed in 2019,” he said.

The protests that started in October 2019 ended with at least 34 people dead and more than 460 injured by projectiles or tear gas bombs launched by police officers, according to information from Chile’s National Institute of Human Rights.

Locally known as “social explosion”, the acts began with dissatisfaction with the increase in public transport fares, but later expanded their agenda to criticize social inequality.

You May Also Like

Recommended for you