They close the cause of the death of Santiago Maldonado

The cause of death of the young tattooist was examined

Santiago Maldonado

in August of last year, it was closed. Rawson federal judge, Gustavo Lleral, felt that there was no criminal liability in the event of death and dismissed Constable Emmanuel Echazú, the only accused in the case.

After more than a year of training, Lleral dismissed the badumption that Santiago Maldonado would be the victim of an enforced disappearance perpetrated by the national gendarmerie following a demonstration at Chubut against the land dispute between the Mapuche community and the state. .

Santiago Maldonado disappeared on 1 August 2017 after a protest at the Pu Lof de Resistencia de Cushamen, in Chubut, in which the gendarmerie intervened. His body appeared in the river running through this property on October 17 of last year.

According to the resolution signed by Judge Lleral, after the tests, it was detected that the national identity document discovered beside Maldonado was under the water. This is the test that the judge must undergo to determine that Maldonado has not disappeared but that he has spent the 78 days under the water.

During the 78 days in which Maldonado was not known, whether he was alive or not, the tension between the national government and the Maldonado family became more and more intense. The versions surrounding the events were multiple and the confusion was constant. The first judge in charge of the investigation, Guido Otranto, was moved by "fear of bias" alleged by the Maldonado family. Then it was defined that it was Gustavo Lleral, Federal Judge of Chubut, who had charged the investigation.

"This case concerns in particular the facts related to the disappearance of Maldonado and his lifeless appearance.The acts of the gendarmerie during the operation are the subject of an investigation in another case which is in the hands of the prosecutor's office in Esquel, "they emphasized at the hearing. in charge of Lleral.

As plaintiffs in this case, the victim's brother, Sergio Maldonado, the Provincial Commission for Remembrance, the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), the Permanent Assembly for the Rights of the 39; man (APDH) and the Association of Former Inmates, acted Missing

The perspective of the family of Santiago has always emphasized and supported the hypothesis that it was an enforced disappearance at the expense of the gendarmes who participated in the operation, even after confirmation of the death of the young man by drowning. For his brother Sergio, talk about Santiago drowned, "hidden reality".

The family asked a group of independent experts to supervise and collaborate on the survey. Judge Lleral did not leave room for this request and the complaint was brought before the Supreme Court, which dismissed the application two days ago.