The Supreme Court orders a new judgment against Mapuche leaders

Temuco, July 2nd, 2003

The highest court in the land adds its weight to the policy of criminalizing the Mapuches and their demands, and prescribes a definite prison sentence for the Lonkos (Mapuche leaders).

In a majority ruling, 4 Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice have decided to annul the judgment that acquitted the Mapuche Lonkos – Pascual Pichun, Aniceto Norin, and the Mapuche villager, Patricia Troncoso - and have called for a new judgement with a clear directive to the Oral Court in Angol to deliver a “guilty” sentence.

The ruling of the Supreme Court supersedes the conflicting ones given by the Oral Court in Angol; it was considered that the judges there did not adequately weigh up the means of proof and had not clearly and logically shown the reasoning that allowed the acquittal of the Lonkos. The court’s lack of experience was also noted.

For Noralinea, this is crude and an error on the part of the Supreme Court inasmuch as, after 12 days of proceedings the State Department, the private individual Juan Agustin Figueroa and the government hadn’t given any relevant proof of the Mapuches’ guilt. And yet, the Supreme Court, in only 6 hours of listening to the party’s lawyers, has considered that there are grounds to condemn.

Sadly the ruling is a signal that will put pressure on judges in future cases against Mapuches accused of territorial conflicts for land in the southern regions of the country. Although there’s no reference to those matters, the ruling of the Supreme Court legitimises the use of anti-terrorist legislation and use of resources such as anonymous, protected witnesses. With this ruling, the highest court in the land adds its weight to the policy of criminalizing the Mapuches and their demands.

The annulment of the ruling that acquitted the Lonkos was prompted by Juan Agustin Figueroa, a well-known public figure who was Minister of State during Patricio Aylwin’s presidency and is today one of the 7 members of the country’s Constitutional Court. Furthermore Figueroa is known to be a large estate owner who has supported the use of the antiterrorist laws against the Mapuche people.

Translated by

Holly Bembridge
Mapuche International Link