In parallel, the Plenary of Ministers of the Court of Appeals of Arica ordered an administrative investigation against Judge Hector Barraza.
The Arica Guarantee Court resolved to order the Public Criminal Defender’s Office to immediately return the records of the protected witnesses with reserved identity of the investigation against Los Gallegos, the arm of the Tren de Aragua in Chile.
This measure is taken after the local Court of Appeals accepted the order not to innovate entered by the Arica Prosecutor’s Office against the Guarantee Court itself, which had agreed to the request of the defense of the accused and who asked to know the identity of the more than 50 protected witnesses who testified against the gang.
It was the Public Ministry itself that reported that the defense of the accused had accessed “some envelopes” that contained background information on the protected witnesses, according to CNN Chile.
Meanwhile, the Public Criminal Defender’s Office reported that the documents with the identities of the protected witnesses in the cases against Los Gallegos were voluntarily returned.
The regional defender of Arica, Sergio Zenteno, assured that the information on the identity of the witnesses was handled “under strict confidentiality measures” and that it was never delivered to third parties.
Previously, from the Government, the Minister of Justice, Luis Cordero, announced that “by instruction of the President of the Republic, we have sent to the Supreme Court (SC) the background information we have on the judge’s decision in this case, which in his opinion of the Government constitute serious facts that can be committed to ministerial conduct.”
“In this way, the plenary session of the CS will be able to adopt the measures that they deem appropriate (…). It is possible that officials’ duties were breached,” Cordero added.
The minister explained that the Court can order a wide range of measures in this regard, from the instruction of a disciplinary procedure to administrative investigations.
Court orders investigation
In parallel, and after an extraordinary meeting, the Plenary of Ministers of the Court of Appeals of Arica ordered an administrative investigation against Judge Hector Barraza, who released a list of protected witnesses in the case against the Aragua Train.
The decision was adopted after gathering the information collected after the visiting minister of the Guarantee Court, José Delgado, was established to verify the procedure developed, according to radio Bío Bío.
