The former Chilean mayor of Recoleta and member of the Communist Party of Chile, Daniel Jadue, left prison on September 2 after 91 days in the Capitán Yáber Penitentiary Annex. His release followed a decision by the judge of the Third Guarantee Court of Santiago, Paula Brito, who changed the precautionary measure of preventive detention decreed against Jadue to house arrest.
“I am very happy with today’s great victory. The decision is a very strong one that puts a big cloud of doubt over what the other magistrates presumed to be true. Today the magistrate does not consider the existence of the crimes to be proven, much less my participation, and has therefore significantly reduced the need for caution,” said Jadue upon release.
The former mayor was arrested on June 3 after being formally charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office with the crimes of unfair istration, fraud, repeated tax fraud and bankruptcy as part of the investigation into the “Popular Pharmacies” case, which he promoted as a low-cost alternative to chain pharmacies.
The judge considered Jadue’s previous conduct to be irreproachable, added to the fact that on Thursday, July 18, he lost his position as mayor after 12 years after having spent 45 days in custody, the maximum period allowed by law to be removed from office.
After a five-hour hearing on Monday, the court accepted the defendant’s defense request and replaced the most serious precautionary measure with total house arrest, a ban on with co-defendants and national imprisonment.
“We accepted house arrest, we only had this request and this allowed me to start working much more rigorously on my defense with my group of lawyers in a more peaceful space,” said Jadue.
Solidarity
Upon leaving prison, Jadue thanked the solidarity campaigns inside and outside Chile.
“I want to send a very fraternal greeting. I am very moved by all the solidarity of all the comrades, friends, all the international comrades from all over the world who sent me the wonderful letters I received while I was deprived of my freedom and all the expressions of solidarity. I would especially like to mention the comrades who mobilized during these almost 93 days in prison.”
Among the organizations that have shown solidarity with Jadue is the São Paulo Forum, which brings together left-wing parties and groups in the region. The organization expressed after his arrest and said that the judicial war “is a practice that punishes emancipatory projects.”
The Brazilian Association of Jurists for Democracy (ABJD, in Portuguese) was one of the signatories of the “Letter of for Comrade Daniel Jadue,” which states that the Chilean mayor is the victim of politically motivated judicial persecution.
“Those who have had their interests threatened have started an intense smear campaign against Daniel Jadue. Just as it happened in Brazil, lawfare is spreading in Chile as a method of undermining democratic leadership,” says the ABJD’s statement.
More than one thousand Chilean personalities signed a letter emphasizing “the lack of concrete evidence” against Jadue.
“The accusations are not only unfounded, but also represent a misuse of legal resources against a political figure,” and the letter points out that “there are no solid grounds for formalizing any accusation for any of the crimes for which he is accused.”
