They sentenced the policeman who gave him … to 16 years in prison.

The main person responsible for the murder of young Mapuche Camilo Catrillanca, former policeman Carlos Alarcón, was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Former police officers Raúl Ávila and Braulio Valenzuela were also sentenced to three years in prison for wrongful shooting and obstruction of the investigation, while the other defendants, a lawyer and four former police officers, were given non-custodial sentences. . After 37 days of oral trial, and after delivering its verdict on January 7, the Angol commune court of first instance held the sentence reading hearing on Thursday.

The case of Catrillanca, the member of the community murdered on November 14, 2018 during a police operation in southern Chile, was marked from the start by irregularities and contradictory versions of the convicts. It was a blow to the government of Sebastián Piñera and intensified the historic Mapuche conflict, which for decades has confronted indigenous peoples who have struggled to conserve their lands with agricultural and forestry companies. He also uncovered a web of lies in the Carabineros that ended up overthrowing the head of the institution at the time, Hermes Soto.

Former Arab Carlos Alarcón’s conviction provides for 11 years for the consummate murder of Catrillanca and an additional five years for the attempted murder of a minor who was traveling with the member of the Mapuche community in a tractor. along a road in the community of Temucuicui, about 600 kilometers south of Santiago. In addition to Alarcón, seven other people involved were convicted for their participation in the operation or for the subsequent attempt to conceal evidence and obstruct the investigation.

“The obstruction of justice by the carabinieri is verified. I hope that this sentence will do justice to Camilo’s family, even if a lot of justice is lacking for the Mapuche people ”, declared the Senator of the Communist Party, Camila Vallejo. For its part the The mayor of Recoleta Daniel Jadue He said: “Eventually, and after hiding evidence and lying to set up a facility, the policeman who murdered Camilo Catrillanca was sentenced to 16 years in prison.” Jadue, who strongly resembles a presidential candidate from the Chilean left, noted that “Political leaders must be judged with equal force.”

The road to judgment

The trial history for Catrillanca’s crime began on March 5, 2020, although it only lasted seven days, as he underwent an extensive suspension (March 12 to October 27) due to the coronavirus. Several people testified as witnesses, including former Home Secretary Andrés Chadwick, who was in charge of this portfolio when the Mapuche community member died..

The senior officers in office at the time of the events were put on trial: retired Carabineros generals Mauro Victtoriano and Christian Franzani, and former Carabineros general manager Hermes Soto. In addition Ex-Sergeant Alarcón himself testified, who revealed that his superiors asked him to give a false version after the events.

While reading the sentence two weeks ago, serious incidents occurred in the Mapuche community of Temucuicui, where the investigative police (PDI) carried out various raids. The civilian force deployed a cinematic operation that included tanks, armored cars and helicopters. Among those detained during the operation were found the daughter and wife of the late Camilo Catrillanca. For the seven-year-old girl, the Children’s Ombudsman and the National Human Rights Institute (INDH) appealed to the courts.

What happened to Catrillanca?

Camilo Catrillanca died on November 14, 2018 after being shot in the neck, when a police command broke into the indigenous community in which he lived in the region of La Araucanía. The case shocked the country and was followed by the resignation of the local mayor, Luis Mayol, which left the cargo just days after news of Catrillanca’s murder came to light. On December 20, 2018, Carabineros chief Hermes Soto was sacked., nine months after being appointed by President Sebastián Piñera during his second term.

Shortly before the crime, Piñera announced a controversial treaty called the “National Agreement for Development and Peace in La Araucanía”. Under the facade of the search for dialogue and consensus with the Mapuche community, the agreement proposed greater militarization of the region and ended up being overshadowed by the violent events that ended with the murder of the young community member.

Pinera He arrived in La Araucanía nine days after Catrillanca’s murder. The Chilean president was greeted by demonstrations in the region, where he gave a press conference during which, as usual, He defended the actions of the Carabineros and even denied the existence of Jungle Command, as we know the force that carried out the violent operation that ended the life of the 24-year-old Mapuche..

In a first version, the agents involved ensured that the death of the member of the community had occurred during a clash following the persecution of suspected suspects in the theft of three private vehicles. They also assured that there was no photographic and audiovisual recording of the operation. The version was picked up and amplified by the main Chilean media.

But after the statements of the 15-year-old teenager who accompanied the victim, and after several contradictory versions, the police admitted that the images recorded by the body cameras carried by the carabiners had been destroyed. Alarcón himself, now sentenced to 16 years in prison, has come to admit the facts.

In addition, police officers who testified during the trial suggested that Catrillanca was one of the criminals charged with robbery. The investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office and Investigative Police (PDI) determined that neither Catrillanca nor the 15-year-old who accompanied her fired that day. Alarcón, the perpetrator of the shooting, admitted that Cristian Inostroza, the accused lawyer, ordered them to give a false version of what happened that day. “The evidence in the trial establishes that they had previously devised a strategy to testify before the prosecutor’s office and ultimately provided false information to the investigation,” Judge Francisco Boero said.

In december 2018 Judge Sandra Nahuelcura then ordered the preventive detention of four of the accused police officers and indicated that “It has been proven that there was direct fire at the tractor, there was no clash or pursuit”. He also confirmed that the defendants not only had cameras during the operation, but also destroyed memory cards.

As a leader of the student movement, Catrillanca had reached an agreement for the creation of an intercultural high school Yes an increase in scholarships in the municipality of Ercilla. The young activist comes from a family that for generations defended the right to land restitution. His grandfather Juan Catrillanca was a lonko, as the leaders of Mapuche communities are called. Camilo was the father of two daughters. The oldest was taken into custody weeks ago, while the youngest was born months after her father’s crime.