Santiago., By the unanimity of its members, the Supreme Court of Justice of Chile, today decided to dismiss one of its members, Judge Ángela Vivanco, whom it considered responsible for “bad behavior”, “irregularities” and a “procedure incompatible with the functions of the position”, in relation to a corruption scandal that implicates several institutions in the country
The president of the highest court, Ricardo Blanco, said that the accusations against Vivanco are of such severity that they damage the “principles of independence, impartiality, probity and transparency that govern the judiciary.”
It is another of the consequences that the “Audios Case” is leaving behind, a plot of conflicts of interest, influence peddling, probable crimes of bribery and prevarication, among others; which was uncovered towards the end of 2003, when a WhatsApp recording and texts contained on the cell phone of criminal lawyer Luis Hermosilla, now in preventive detention, emerged.
Since then, revelations have taken place that have affected the institutions.
The most recent took place the day before yesterday, when the national prosecutor himself, Ángel Valencia, confessed that shortly after being appointed, in January 2023, he met with Hermosilla and with the two-time Minister of the Interior Andrés Chadwick, right-hand man of the late President Sebastián Piñera, who asked him to intervene in a criminal case that affected the then head of the Investigative Police, Héctor Espinoza, to which he refused.
Chadwick, Piñera’s political heir and renowned right-wing leader, revealed the day before yesterday that two weeks ago he resigned from his 40-year militancy in the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), of which he was founder, a party that supported the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
The removal of Vivanco
The dismissed judge Vivanco fell into disgrace when, a month ago, the written messages she exchanged with Luis Hermosilla, a well-known criminal lawyer, Chadwick’s advisor in Piñera’s second government, were published, where it is clear how she was willing to hand over confidential information intervene badly in cases where he was litigating.
The Supreme Court then opened a process to remove the judge in which seven specific accusations were made: 1) Interfere in the appointment of prosecutor Valencia and the appointments of real estate conservators; 2) Irregularities in the processing and knowledge of a case that affected the state National Copper Corporation (Codelco); 3) Intervene in the appointment of court ministers in coordination with Hermosilla; 4) Interference in cases in progress and in the integration of chambers of the Supreme Court, at the request of the lawyer; 5) Delivery of information in trials related to members of the Carabineros of Chile and the Armed Forces, before the signing of the sentence and its notification, giving procedural advice to the lawyer; 6) Concertation with the already referred lawyer to obtain the appointment of members of this court related to their interests; 7) Irregularities in the processing of eight trials between 2019 and 2023, due to non-compliance with existing regulations and criteria in this regard.
It is the second time in 23 years that the main court has removed one of its members
To top it off, the Chamber of Deputies approved a constitutional accusation against Vivanco, which now goes to the Senate for ratification, risking being disqualified for life from holding public office.
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