In August 2020, within the framework of a police operation in the city of Durazno, Transit Police officers asked a young man who was traveling with a friend on a motorcycle to stop the march, however, the driver of the motorcycle, name Santiago Cor, ignored and accelerated. The police began to chase him and when he reached the end of an avenue the young man lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree, two days later he died.
As a result of the events, the prosecutor Bárbara Zapater requested five years and seven months in prison for the officers, for the crimes of “homicide with intentional intent and abuse of functions.”
The oral trial against the police officers began this week in Durazno and the Minister of the Interior, Luis Alberto Heber, went there, saying he was “very concerned” about the situation of the police officers. “In our opinion, the police did a very good job of complying with the Police Procedure Act.”
“We are going to be attentive to this first hearing, but we wanted to give our message of support to the Police when it proceeds well. When they proceed badly, we are very harsh with them, but this is the flip side,” Heber remarked.
For its part, the Association of Judges of Uruguay understands that Heber’s attitude “may represent an attempt to put undue pressure on the acting judge and affect the separation of powers.”
This Wednesday, March 9, the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, supported Heber and said that in Uruguay, the separation of powers is clearly established in the Constitution of the Republic and has had “historical respect.”
“I have not seen an interference of the political power or the Executive or the Legislative in Justice. I do not believe that the Justice of Uruguay is pressured. That the Minister of the Interior supports the policeman whom he considers, in the specific fact, that he deserves his support, seems to me to be a good gesture, ”said Lacalle.
political actions
As a result of these events and a case of “sexual abuse” reported against two Montevideo police officers, the Broad Front caucus decided to take a political measure that they will define in the next few hours.
In this sense, they do not rule out questioning Minister Heber.
