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Original article: Familia de Rafael Pichún acusa persecución política tras ratificación de condena contra el werken de Temulemu

The family of Rafael Genaro Pichún Collonao, a werken of the Mapuche community of Temulemu, is alleging judicial persecution after the Supreme Court confirmed his conviction.

In a statement, they expressed that the country’s highest court’s decision to reject the nullity appeal filed by the defense and declare that the reasoning of the Oral Criminal Court of Los Ángeles was neither illegal nor arbitrary contributes to perpetuating «a cycle of criminalization».

It is important to recall that on January 7, in a ruling that sparked controversy in Mapuche communities and among human rights organizations, the spokesperson of the Coordinadora Arauco Malleco (CAM) was sentenced to serve 7 years in prison and pay a fine of 4 UTM.

The ruling linked him as the intellectual author of an arson attack that occurred in 2021 in the municipality of Quilleco, marking a new chapter of imprisonment for the Pichún family. The werken is the son of the late historic lonko of Temulemu, Pascual Pichún, who was unjustly convicted in 2003 for «terrorist threats» against former Agriculture Minister Juan Agustín Figueroa, and later exonerated by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (CIDH).

Moreover, he is the brother of Juan Pichún Collonao, the lonko of the Temulemu community, who is currently in preventive detention over a case involving an alleged incendiary attack reported in November 2021 in Traiguén, La Araucanía Region.

Controversial Judicial Process and Lack of Evidence

The judicial process involving Rafael Pichún has been marked by questions regarding the relevance and strength of the evidence used to link the Mapuche leader to the events in the municipality of Quilleco.

The central piece of evidence from the Public Ministry consists of a WhatsApp message stating, «We need people for Friday.» According to Pichún’s spokesperson, this message refers to a call outside the Los Ángeles court to support fellow community members, and was deemed in the nullity appeal filed by the defense of the werken and the community members Óscar Cañupan, José Lienqueo, Bastián Llaitul, Axel Campos, and Roberto Garling as «secondary and irrelevant evidence» to establish a crime.

Political Persecution Against Rafael Pichún

From the werken’s circle, they denounce that the confirmation of the sentence represents a political persecution orchestrated by forestry interests and the prosecutor’s office, asserting that the intent is to imprison Pichún solely for his role as a traditional authority.

In their statement, they highlighted that «beyond judicial proceedings,» the Supreme Court’s decision to reject the nullity appeal and uphold the 7-year prison sentence, as an «intellectual author» of the arson of a forestry truck, represents a devastating blow to a family and a community that has devoted their lives to land defense.

«Rafael is not just a leadership figure; he is a father, a son, and a fundamental pillar in the social cohesion of his territory,» they noted.

They also stated that the ratification of his sentence to serve 7 years in prison «is not merely intended to punish a particular act, but to break the spirit of a man whose ‘weapon’ has always been the word and the representation of his people.»

Family members of the werken warned that it is alarming that the Chilean justice system continues to operate with disregard for the international commitments undertaken by the State.

«We remind you that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IDH) has already issued condemnatory sentences against the State of Chile (as in the cases of the lonkos and others) for the arbitrary application of special laws and discriminatory biases in trials against Mapuche leaders,» they emphasized.

«The ratification of this sentence contravenes the spirit of reparation that the IDH has demanded for defenders of human rights and indigenous leaders, perpetuating a cycle of criminalization that has already been denounced before the world,» they added in the text released by Resumen.

In conclusion, they extended a call to human rights organizations, both national and international, «to focus their attention on the political persecution of Mapuche social fighters» occurring in Chile.

They indicated that racism and silence should not cover this injustice, which is why they will initiate «all legal actions before the appropriate international bodies to denounce this new assault on the dignity of the Mapuche people.»

«Freedom for Rafael Pichún and all political prisoners of the Mapuche people,» they concluded.

La entrada Family of Rafael Pichún Claims Political Persecution Following Supreme Court Upholding of Sentence se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.