The Minister of Justice, Luis Cordero, addressed the pardons granted by President Gabriel Boric, an issue that was reopened after the existence of a new request for the benefit was revealed, and due to the negative report issued by the Gendarmerie where it recommended not to pardon six subjects convicted of crimes in the framework of the social outbreak.
On this last issue, the Secretary of State told TVN that “Gendarmerie does not have powers to recommend or not pardons, the power belongs to the President of the Republic.”
“When the records reach the Ministry of Justice, what the pardon section does is not only consider the Gendarmerie report, but also the others that are in the file. The references to which aspects weighed and were weighted with greater importance in the decision are described in the decree, there is no way to adopt that decision of the decree without having all that background in view,” he declared.
In addition to the above, Cordero explained that “in general, 65% of the pardoned people are repeat offenders or have a previous criminal record. Pardoning people who have committed previous crimes is greater than one thinks, based on previous pardons.”
Likewise, it pointed out that these are pardons that “are subject to surveillance and monitoring by the Gendarmerie, this translates into the following, if these people commit a new crime or fail to comply with the conditions in which it has been imposed, the pardon is rendered null and void. pardon and must serve their sentence again.
The head of Justice recalled that “in 2020 two people who reported negative reports were pardoned”, so “the files, and from the constitutional and legal point of view, are in accordance with legality.” Likewise, he assured that there was no “legal untidiness” in its granting.
New request for pardon
On the other hand, the head of Justice referred to the existence of a new request for pardon. In this sense, he informed that it is currently being processed, so it must be kept in reserve until it is decided whether or not to grant the benefit.
However, he indicated that he is a person convicted in the framework of the social outbreak, “who is linked to the use of incendiary devices. He has no other particularities but that and his background, and the rest is part of the processing process.”
“The processing of pardons is carried out before the Ministry of Justice and who decides is formally the Minister of Justice, because he has a delegated power. Therefore, the President of the Republic was not aware of the entry of this new request,” Cordero added. .
