Human rights organizations and families of victims protested this Wednesday in Chile against the possible pardons that President José Antonio Kast could grant to police officers convicted of abuses during the social outbreak of 2019. The protest took place in front of the Palacio de La Moneda, where attendees delivered a letter to the president. With the slogan “Justice, truth, and no step back!”, the demonstrators demanded that judicial sentences be respected.
Senator Fabiola Campillai, who lost her sight due to a tear gas canister fired by a police officer, was one of the most prominent voices of the day. “Sentences are meant to be served. A state that pardons these criminals abandons its victims,” she stated. The social outbreak resulted in dozens of fatalities and thousands of injuries, with over 450 people suffering eye trauma, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Among those convicted is former Carabineros captain Patricio Maturana, who is serving 12 years in prison for the attack on Campillai. The possibility of pardons has reignited the debate over justice and reparations in a context of growing political tension, while the Chamber of Deputies approved a project that supports the actions of Carabineros during the protests. For more details on the current political situation, you can read about the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana.
