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Original article: “Y borramos x fa después”: PDI detecta que Sabaj revisó borrador de recurso judicial para bloquear publicación de chats de Hermosilla y Zaliasnik

The investigation into former Santiago Court Minister Verónica Sabaj now includes a significant new detail linking her to the influence network of criminal lawyer Luis Hermosilla, who operated within the upper echelons of the Chilean judiciary. A report from the Police Investigation Department (PDI) disclosed that in November 2024, the then-minister advised on the submission of a protective action aimed at preventing the publication of a report that contained conversations between the lawyer and his colleagues Samuel Donoso and Gabriel Zaliasnik—who was recently appointed Chile’s ambassador to Israel—even requesting to erase traces of that effort.

According to an investigation published by Reportea, this incident dates back to November 13, 2024, when Sabaj’s phone received a message from a contact saved as «Felipe,» using a number registered in the United States. The inquiry was straightforward: «Can I send you the RP draft so you can tell me if there are any serious errors?» The then-minister’s prompt reply was «Sii», followed by a crucial instruction in the ongoing investigation: «And let’s delete it after, please». The sender then forwarded a document titled «protection SD the clinic.docx».

This exchange, which the PDI managed to reconstruct from two screenshots retrieved from the device despite the full conversation being deleted, shows that Sabaj was not only aware of the protective action that lawyer Samuel Donoso would present the following day to the Santiago Court, but also played an active role in its preliminary review. The action sought to prevent the dissemination of a The Clinic report that included chats among Hermosilla, Zaliasnik, and Donoso himself, ultimately deemed inadmissible by both the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.

The file’s metadata reveals that the draft was written by Ramiro Araya, a lawyer who was part of Samuel Donoso’s legal team at that time.

The investigative outlet highlighted that this advisory role was not an isolated incident in Sabaj’s career: in late 2021, amid the Pandora Papers scandal, the then-minister had also participated in drafting a habeas corpus petition prepared by Hermosilla and Donoso to protect then-president Sebastián Piñera, although that time, the document was never submitted to the Santiago Court.

Messages Deleted by Sabaj

The police report detailed a series of deliberate actions taken by the former minister to conceal sensitive information on her electronic devices. Sabaj acquired a Samsung Galaxy A55 after conversations between Hermosilla and former minister Ángela Vivanco became public and set her WhatsApp to automatically delete messages. Additionally, she installed the apps Confide and Signal, known for leaving no trace of conversations.

On Signal, police discovered a contact list of twelve names, at least eight of whom belonged to members of the judiciary, including Vivanco, Supreme Court Minister María Soledad Melo, and Minister Juan Cristóbal Mera. Gabriel Zaliasnik, as well as the initials SDB, which likely refer to Samuel Donoso Boassi.

However, the most striking event occurred on January 22, 2025, one day after a report revealing Sabaj’s involvement was published. According to the PDI, the former minister made efforts to purchase and set up a new Galaxy A11 phone, which was not seized by the Public Ministry, explaining why few data were recovered from her Galaxy A55. Additionally, her iPhone 12, voluntarily turned over by her lawyer the day after the raid, underwent a complete or partial restoration, and the WhatsApp application had been reinstalled.

The investigation also uncovered that Sabaj maintained an Instagram account under the false identity of «userjuanasoto», from which she sent a message in 2022 to verify her identity: «María Inés, please write to my cellphone, I am V. Sabaj».

Reportea reached out to the defense of Sabaj and Samuel Donoso, but neither wished to comment on the ongoing investigation. The former minister, currently under total house arrest and formally charged with bribery, judicial bias, and breach of secrecy, will have to answer to justice for these new elements linking her directly to a scheme that continues to shake the foundations of the Judiciary.

La entrada Investigation Reveals Former Judge Verónica Sabaj’s Involvement in Efforts to Block Publication of Controversial Chats se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.