9th April, 2003
Magistrates found no evidence of guilt
Acquitted of the charges of terrorist attack against the Nancahue estate, property of the ex minister Juan Agustín Figueroa was the result of the trial of the lonkos Pascual Pichún, Aniceto Norín and the "sister" Patricia Troncoso.
The decision taken by the tribunal made up of magistrates Waldemar Koch, Luis Sarmiento and Georgina Solís was announced during a sitting lasting no more than ten minutes, after which a five minute break was held, before the court reconvened, this time without the presence of journalists and members of the public inside the court room in Angol.
According to the judges' verdict, there was not sufficient proof to verify the presence and involvement of the mapuche leaders in the act of which they were accused by the Ministry of the Interior.
The sentence brought joy to the leaders who hugged each other and shouted for joy on hearing the verdict, a feeling which was shared by members of the Temulemu community who were present. It is worth pointing out that the leaders had been held in Traiguén prison for more than a year awaiting trial in this case, without doubt the most emblematic for the cause of the Mapuche people. However, it has yet to be decided whether the lonkos will stand trial for "illicit terrorist associations" alongside members of the Arauco-Malleco co-ordinating committee in the city of Temuko.
Pedro García, spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, noted that "this is the first trial for terrorism… unfortunately the magistrates didn't take account of the elements and evidence presented. We will continue to seek justice, according to the facts of the case, in situations of violence against our ministers.
Defence
The lawyer Jaime Madariaga made clear in the strongest possible terms that he holds the state responsible for the 15 month imprisonment of the lonkos Aniceto Norín and Pascual Pichún, acquitted this afternoon by the judges of the court in Angol, in a historic verdict which absolved them of the crimes of which they were accused; terrorist threat and arson.
In a provocative statement the defence lawyer said that the state should be made to answer for having kept in jail and deprived of their liberty two innocent people and a Chilean sympathiser, without any convincing proof against them, as determined this afternoon by the judges in Angol.
He immediately announced that he will seek legal recourse against the Chilean state in order to obtain compensation for the loss of liberty, unjust allegations and damage caused, which will take place once he has analysed the situation and the terms of the verdict which will be read out publicly in the near future.
Kolectivo Mapuche Lientur / http://www.nodo50.org/kolectivolientur
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Translated by Jo Skinner
Mapuche International Link