Seven correctional officers were made available this afternoon, after a prisoner tried to stab the Mendoza prosecutor Claudia Rios in the middle of an oral trial, in the Mendoza Judicial Center. These are those responsible for the transfer and searches of the detainee and investigators want to determine if the aggressor had the collaboration of the security force personnel to enter the courts armed.
Marcelo Puertasholder of the Mendoza Safety Inspection, He assured this afternoon that there may be other personnel or officials from areas involved. And he stated thatand “it is not ruled out that there may have been collusion between service personnel.”
According to the official, “the seven troops were made available and will be cited to declarealthough there may be other personnel or managers of areas involveds,” the newspaper reported The Andes.
“When leaving the prison he has to be searched, he is put on a cell phone and when he gets out he is searched again. Then, “When entering the courtroom there is a third search”, he explained. “Evidently, someone has not fulfilled their duties and fraud is not ruled out, in case there was any agreement in order to access the sharp element with which he tried to harm or kill prosecutor Ríos,” he analyzed.
The separated prisons, for the moment, “are not charged” although “that will happen after obtaining the evidence of the charge,” the official clarified. “Yesand he is going to summon them for investigation where they will be able to declare and present the relevant defense and exculpatory evidence as a defensive strategy to see how these facts that are being attributed to them are elucidated,” Puertas said.
The attack on the prosecutor was carried out with a knife homemade product known in prison jargon as “shit“. Yes ok The prosecutor was not injured. and the man was arrestedthe question isHow could he have entered the courtroom with the gun??
“Extreme gravity”, the harsh statement from the magistrates
Therefore, the Magistrates Association issued a harsh statement against the Ministery of securityon whom depends Penitentiary Servicedescribing the fact as “extremely serious” for the safety of all officials and other people who participated in the debate, and demanding measures to clarify the situation, in addition to reinforcing security.
“This situation of negligence and incompetence Regarding security, it must draw the attention of the Ministry of Security, on which the provincial Penitentiary Service depends, and the measures must be taken. investigative and disciplinary measures that apply,” the statement says.
The body chaired by the judge Norma Llatseralso requests “the competent authorities to urgently appropriate measures are taken to reinforce security in all public buildings of the Judicial Branchespecially in those places that can be considered conflictivesuch as where they move people accused of serious crimes“.
“We request from the Public Prosecutor’s Office a swift investigation to determine the responsibilities of the violation of security measures that put in crisis the system of hearings in criminal matters”, concludes the text signed by the Board of Directors of the Association of Magistrates.
How was the attack on prosecutor Ríos?
The judicial officer did not suffer injuries and defended himself spraying with pepper spray —which he had in his clothes— to the criminal, Hugo Eduardo Arredondo37 years old, nicknamed “Mecha.” According to local media, the prisoner managed evade Penitentiary Service staff and he escaped from the debate room and with a knife and tried to stab the prosecutor.
The episode occurred this Tuesday morning at the beginning of the trial against three prisoners accused of try to kill to another inmate Almafuerte prison, in 2019. At the place where the hearing was taking place, in addition to prosecutor Ríos, there were judge Mauro Perassi and official defender Ximena Morales.
Arredondo meets life imprisonment for the murder of Jorge Daniel Montilla (51), a former soldier and businessman murdered in March 2015. In an attempt to steal his truck, the gang that Arredondo was in shot him four times and he died.
In December 2019, the prisoner stabbed Nicolás Lozano, cellmate. That case was investigated by prosecutor Ríos. They sentenced him to 14 years in prison.
But in addition, there is an open case for drug and impale to another intern in September 2022, and in this Wednesday’s trial it was for attempted murder against another prisoner, Carlos Olmedo
