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Original article: Se le acabó el refugio europeo: Karen Rojo llega esposada a Chile para cumplir condena

The European refuge for former Antofagasta mayor has come to an end. Karen Rojo arrived back in Chile on Wednesday morning, handcuffed and escorted, to fulfill her sentence for embezzlement amounting to $26 million, which occurred between 2015 and 2016 while she was leading the northern municipality.

It is important to note that the former community leader, linked to both RN and UDI, had been a fugitive from Chilean justice after fleeing the country on March 23, 2022, the same day the Supreme Court upheld her conviction.

Her landing at Arturo Merino Benítez Airport occurred just after 7:00 AM. The ex-official disembarked from the plane amid a heavy security detail and without making any statements to the press. Her image, with hands cuffed and flanked by two police officers, marked her return to Chile after the Netherlands approved the extradition process.

The operation, coordinated between Interpol and Dutch authorities, was executed without incident, closing the chapter of her four-year stay in Europe, where she was confined in a women’s prison in Utrecht.

Detention control became the first mandatory procedure following her arrival in the country. Immediately after the immigration and customs checks, Rojo was transported to the Justice Center in Santiago. There, Antofagasta prosecutor Cristián Aguilar, who led the investigation that resulted in the conviction, was waiting to formalize the entry into custody.

It is anticipated that the former mayor will serve a sentence of five years and one day of effective imprisonment after being convicted of embezzlement and incompatible negotiation. This came after it was proven that she had hired a communications agency for political consulting for her 2016 re-election campaign at a cost of $24 million, which was paid from school grant funds and municipal health resources, in the Main case, leading to her dismissal and disqualification from holding public office.

Rojo’s Defense to Seek Credit for Time Served in the Netherlands

The former mayor’s defense attempted to halt the process with legal appeals and even a request for international protection, but in March 2023, the Rotterdam Court deemed the Chilean government’s request admissible.

Four years of court battles and appeals kept the case in a lengthy international struggle that closed a chapter with her extradition to Chile.

Now, attention turns to the correctional scenario. The former mayor’s defense, led by lawyer Loreto Flores, has already outlined a clear roadmap. First, they aim to secure her entry into the San Joaquín women’s prison, and subsequently obtain reductions and privileges for the former official, such as requesting that the period of detention in the Netherlands be credited towards her sentence in Chile.

«The first step will be to appear at the detention control hearing. Then we will request that the commitments made by the State of Chile are honored, enabling her to serve her sentence at the San Joaquín Penitentiary Center. Subsequently, with the necessary documentation, we will petition for credits against her sentence for the time spent detained in the Netherlands,» stated attorney Flores to BioBioChile.

La entrada European Sanctuary Ends: Karen Rojo Arrives in Chile in Handcuffs to Serve Sentence se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.