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Court acquits 17 community members accused of kidnapping prison guards during riot at Angol prison

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This Wednesday, the Oral Criminal Court of Angol delivered an acquittal verdict for the inmates of the Mapuche module at the Preventive Detention Center (CDP) in the city, who were accused of kidnapping three prison guards for a couple of hours.

The community members staged a riot inside the prison on May 7, 2023, the day Sunday visits were suspended due to the elections for the Constitutional Council. Simultaneously, their relatives protested outside the prison.

The accused were charged with aggravated kidnapping; however, judges Francisco Boero Villagrán, Karina Rubio Solís, and Solange Sufán Arias unanimously decided to acquit them.

The acquitted community members are Juan Cortés, Ismael Fritz, Simón Huenchullán, Joaquín Huenchullán, Sergio Huentecol, Alejandro Liguén, Fabián Llanca, Boris Llanca, Hanthu Llanca, Freddy Marileo, Joaquín Millanao, Pedro Palacios, Máximo Queipul, Juan Queipul, Anthoni Torres, Miguel Torres, and Jorge Palacios. Meanwhile, Sergio Huentecol was the only one convicted in the case due to "physical abuse of a prison guard in the performance of their duties." Juan Queipul had also been charged for that crime but was acquitted by the judges' decision.

The case proceedings were handled by the High Complexity Prosecutor's Office of La Araucanía. As part of the investigation, raids were conducted at the prison, where prohibited items such as sharp weapons and homemade liquor were found. Regarding this, the lead prosecutor, Carlos Cornejo, stated that the Public Ministry would review the next steps. "We do not agree with the court's acquittal decision, based on a series of evidence presented during the trial, including direct evidence such as recordings that clearly show the moments when the crime was being committed," Cornejo mentioned.

"We will await the sentencing, scheduled for February 7, and with all the background information, we will evaluate filing an appeal," added the prosecutor. The lawyer for one of the prison guards, Oscar Ulloa, also expressed dissatisfaction with the court's ruling.

In that regard, he stated, "We will wait for the sentence, analyze it, because the truth is we believe this sends a bad message, both to prison guards and the general public. That is, these individuals, simply because they belong to the Mapuche ethnicity, in Chile today and in the country's prisons, can do whatever they please."

Source:Emol.com