El Ciudadano
Original article: PPM del Caso Lautaro acusan a Mega de exhibir “imágenes manipuladas” y de atribuirles delitos por los que fueron absueltos
The political prisoners Mapuche (PPM) Pelentaro Llaitul, Jorge Caniupil, Juan Carlos Mardones, and Luis Menares have criticized the report «The Fall of the Last Llaitul», broadcasted by Mega, claiming it featured «manipulated images» and misattributed crimes for which they were acquitted in the context of the notorious «Lautaro Case».
This statement comes a little over a month after the Oral Criminal Court in Temuco issued a ruling on July 13 against five community members from the Arauco Malleco Coordinator (CAM) who were considered authors of an attack on forestry machinery that occurred on November 22, 2022, in a property in Lautaro, Araucanía Region, and who endured four years of preventive detention prior to trial.
After being arrested and processed, on June 25, the political prisoners were found guilty, but the court had to dismiss the more serious charges filed by the Public Ministry, for which they faced unprecedented sentences in Chile of up to 100 years in prison.
Specifically, Pelentaro Llaitul —the son of Héctor Llaitul— and Juan Carlos Mardones received sentences totaling 15 years and 354 days of imprisonment, while Luis Menares, Jorge Caniupil, and Luis Fuenzalida were sentenced to 14 years and 178 days. The charges against them included repeated arson, simple kidnapping, and theft. Additionally, Llaitul and Mardones were convicted for illegal possession of ammunition.
In a statement, the Mapuche community members recalled that the Temuco criminal court sentenced them to 14 and 16 years in prison for various crimes related to an arson attack on forestry companies in Wallmapu, for which the prosecution sought 70 years in prison, and the government of Gabriel Boric sought 100 years.
They emphasized that this judicial process relied solely on a protected witness, who never appeared at the trial, and that the victims also did not testify.
«During the trial, only police officers testified, and the prosecution did not present scientific evidence or concrete proof, whether in telecommunications or georeferencing, nor in terms of coordination and planning,» they stated in the text.
Given this scenario, they asserted that they were convicted by the court as «direct authors» based only on the prosecution’s theory of guilt, «simply because we are CAM members, despite being 40 km away from the events in question.»
The community members reaffirmed the defense’s argument and claimed that the location where they were detained «is associated with a variety of recovering farms and communities in conflict (connected with CAM for three decades), where they were carrying out cleaning and productive work» near their communities, and «where previous police raids and evictions had occurred, met with resistance from the communities, so upon learning of police presence, the decision was made for people to disperse and retreat.»
«Manipulated Images Are Being Displayed Artificially»
In their statement, they raised concerns regarding the report «The Fall of the Last Llaitul». aired by Mega, accusing the channel of using images that might have been manipulated or presented out of context, and specifically rejecting the use of the term «arson tour» to describe the investigated events.
«Manipulated images are displayed artificially, and there is a blatant lie regarding the arrests, as they do not correspond to reality. Furthermore, it is said that we were convicted for an ‘arson tour’,” they explained.
They even alleged that the report attributed crimes to them for which they were acquitted, «contravening the very judges who issued the conviction.»
For the Mapuche political prisoners, the audiovisual piece would respond to the interests of forestry and business and aim to publicly reinforce the thesis of their guilt, while the conviction is being challenged by their defense.
«Our lawyers have submitted a nullity appeal against the sentence, which has been accepted as admissible. Moreover, the prosecution did not present any type of appeal in their favor,» they asserted.
«A Desperate Act of Revenge by Powerful Forestry Companies«
In their view, this situation «has awakened the hatred of the business sector«, which they believe explains «the intentional misrepresentation of the report.»
«To anyone with common sense, the report amounts to a crude fabrication, lacking professionalism. From viewing it, it appears to be a desperate act of revenge by the powerful forestry companies that, utilizing a mass media outlet they own, shamelessly offends the intelligence of viewers and further discredits a television channel that strives, at all costs, to confuse fiction with reality, according to the sordid interests of its owners,» they declared in the statement.
The four community members affirmed they will remain steadfast in the Mapuche people’s struggle and continue to demand the freedom of Mapuche political prisoners.
They closed the statement with the expression: «Amulepe taiñ weichan», which in Mapudungun translates to «our struggle continues.»
La entrada Mapuche Political Prisoners Accuse Mega of Showcasing «Manipulated Images» and Misattributing Crimes for Which They Were Acquitted se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.
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