What is the risk of Jones Huala in Chile? : the judicial future of the member of the community if Argentina accepts his extradition

After his arrest on January 30 in the Trans-Andean country, the leader of the Mapuche Ancestral Resistance group, Facundo Jones Huala, awaits the extradition trial which has been activated by the Chilean justice. Lawyers are debating whether there was an aggravating circumstance for escaping after being paroled. The same discussion that occurs regarding the possible advantages that could be accessible.

This Tuesday, the Valdivia Court of Appeal accepted the extradition request against Francisco Facundo Jones Huala, leader of the Mapuche Ancestral Resistance (RAM) group who was arrested in Argentina early Monday, January 30. After a year on the run, and if the Transandean country accepts the Chilean state’s request, Huala could return to be tried in Chile. Considering this, What judicial scenario awaits the member of the Mapuche community?

The case against Jones Huala dates back to 2013. That year he was arrested for his involvement in an arson attack on the Pisú Pisué farm in the Los Ríos area. On this occasion, he was apprehended, but he was not remanded in custody. Since then, his fate was not known until June 2017, after he was arrested in Lof Cushamen in Argentina. The police of the neighboring country arrested him because of an international order that existed against him, issued precisely by Chile, as part of the investigation of the crime of arson.

Following this, in 2018 he was extradited to Chile after the Transandean country accepted the Chilean state’s request. Thus, on December 21 of the same year, he was convicted by the Oral Criminal Court of Valdivia as the perpetrator of the crime of arson, for which he was sentenced to six years in prison. To which was added the offense of illegal possession of a firearm, which gave him three years and one day more to his effective sentence.

He began serving his eight-year sentence in the indigenous module of Temuco prison, a prison where he remained until January 21, 2022. That day, the appeals court accepted a request for amparo in his favor and granted him conditional release, which was revoked 25 days later by the Supreme Court. Following this, an arrest warrant was issued against him, so that he returns to pay his sentence behind bars until 2024.

However, Jones Huala has not been found. This until the early hours of January 30, when he was arrested in Argentina after carrying out a drunken disorder.

An aggravated return?

Now that the appeals court has accepted the extradition request, It will be the same court that must officiate the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin the process and the diplomatic efforts with Argentina as has already happened in 2018. After that, it will be the justice of the Transandean country that will have to deal with the case, this through a federal judge and with the participation of the public prosecutor’s office of this country, as well as with the private defender of Hualas in Argentina.

The Los Ríos Regional Prosecutor, Juan Agustin Melendez, appreciated the way the treatment was carried out in the Chilean courts and maintains that now it remains for Huala return to the country to serve the remaining time of your sentence: one year, four months and 17 days. In this sense, he explains that the leader of RAM must comply with this sentence “as previously established during the oral trial that took place in this region and where he was found guilty of two crimes. So he has a balance to fill and once that balance is completed, well, his sentence will be fully executed there.

The criminal lawyer Joanna Heskia Tornquist explains that these procedures are relatively rapid in the event that the defendant is detained or in pre-trial detention, as is the case here. For the lawyer, and concerning what Huala risks in Chile, “The fact of having escaped could give rise to a new crime if it is understood that he was under the supervision of the authority having been on probation and which could possibly add a new sentence.

Catherine Lathrop , a criminal lawyer, believes that within a month this should be resolved. For the same reason, he believes that if he is extradited to Chile, Huala will do so “as a prisoner sold at auction, condemned by a final sentence, for which he will have to serve the balance of a sentence exceeding one year “. Despite this, he adds that “there is no aggravating circumstance to his sentence, since it is not provided for in our legislation, without prejudice to the discussion which could take place concerning the offense of violation of the sentence , which should necessarily be the case”. question of another process”.

A lawyer familiar with the case says The third PM that the main thing in this process is that he returns to serve the rest of his sentence, which does not prevent him from being able to access the legal advantages established like any prisoner. This, because in any case he would be within the prison rights to which he could access and, therefore, it is not excluded that he could legally request parole again.

Heskia argues that with respect to these benefits, these “They are not prohibited per se, but obviously it will be more difficult for the administrative and judicial authorities to authorize it.” The above, because clearly, “at bottom, it is not with the intention of respecting the reintegration measures that probation entails”, he adds.

Lathrop has a different opinion, which asserts that having been revoked his probation, Huala may not be subject to any other benefit of this nature. In any case, the lawyer believes that Argentina is unlikely to reject the request, because “there is no reason to refuse extradition, especially if he is convicted and has only to serve his sentence”.

Defense of Huala

During the discussion of the request for extradition to Chile, the member of the Mapuche community was represented by the Public Criminal Defender, who must guarantee his rights during the process.

The defender Jean-Paul Alday represented Huala and was the one who opposed the continuation of the extradition process and the request in Argentina, since, according to what he points out, they presented “observations on the request for extradition made by the Public Ministry and that they rather say that they are linked to the fact that the public prosecutor, Neither in court nor in the Court of Appeal has it been proven that the act for which my client was convicted in our country is punishable and is punished in Argentina. This is expressly required by the Montevideo agreement”.

Regarding the judicial scenario in Chile, Alday points out that the extradition request aims for the head of RAM to serve his sentence again. For the same reason, he asserts that “In general, you can again opt for intra-prison services if you meet the legal conditions because the benefits are related to the execution time of the sentence and to the conduct”.

Given this, he adds that if extradited to Chile, Huala would have to initiate “a process of driving here to be eligible for benefits, which the Gendarmerie is gradually issuing.” This, because “he returns to a system where he would have to fit in and gradually gain spaces of freedom”. In any case, he concludes that it will be the Criminal Defense Office which will grant his defense, in order to be able to continue to exercise his rights like any convicted person.

Meanwhile, Huala will remain detained at Federal Prison 14 in Esquel, Chubut, Argentina.

Source: Latercera

Facebook
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Twitter
Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *