Prosecutors begin investigation after controversial reduction of precautionary measures for members of the Aragua Train – La Discusión 2024-07-02 21:23:28

Amid growing controversy, the National Prosecutor’s Office has announced the start of a criminal investigation following the controversial hearing in which the precautionary measures for five members of the Tren de Aragua were reduced. The National Prosecutor, Ángel Valencia, confirmed the action and did not rule out the possibility that the persecutor involved had received threats.

The measure was made official through a press release issued today by the Prosecutor’s Office, which details that the Regional Prosecutor of Atacama, Alexis Rogat Lucero, has been appointed to lead the criminal investigation. This investigation will be carried out in parallel with an administrative inquiry that had already been initiated.

“According to the information gathered and a letter sent by the Regional Prosecutor of Coquimbo, the head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Ángel Valencia, appointed the Regional Prosecutor of Atacama, Alexis Rogat Lucero, to lead a criminal investigation in relation to the events known in the commune of Los Vilos,” reads the statement.

The origin of this investigation is a complaint filed by the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Local Prosecutor’s Office of Los Vilos, Patricio Jory. The complaint is directed against the assistant lawyer of the same prosecutor’s office, Luis Alejandro Soto Pérez, for acts that could constitute a crime and that occurred during the hearing on June 3 at the Los Vilos Guarantee Court.

Speaking to Radio Agricultura, National Prosecutor Ángel Valencia suggested that the prosecutor in charge of the hearing could have been the target of threats. Valencia highlighted the increasingly dangerous work of prosecutors in Chile, stressing that combating organised crime involves a significant risk to the personal safety of judicial officials.

“Today, throughout Chile, there are prosecutors, officials and professionals who are periodically risking their physical integrity and even their lives to pursue organized crime,” said Valencia. He added that “the role of prosecutor is beginning to be more dangerous than before, that working in the Prosecutor’s Office is beginning to be more risky than before.”

The National Prosecutor asked the public not to “prejudge” the prosecutor who was in charge of the hearing in question, suggesting that “he may have been the victim of threats for acting in that way.”