The Court of Appeals of Punta Arenas accepted this Tuesday amparo appeals presented by the defenses of the ex-bishop of Magallanes Bernard Bastres and the priest Leonardo Santibanez. In this way, the court of appeal annulled the prosecution issued against both, by accessories to the crime of abduction of a minor, specifically the adolescent Ricardo Harex (17). The disappearance occurred on October 20, 2001 in Punta Arenas.
Let us remember that due to the case, the visiting minister of the Court of Appeals of Punta Arenas Marta Jimena Pinto submitted to trial on October 11 Bastres, Santibáñez, the priest Vincenzo Soccorso di Bonothe carabinieri in retirement Hernan Bravo Aris, Hector Pena Monsalves, Maximo Sanchez Marquez Y Anwar Kharufeh Jadue.
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In unanimous rulings, the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals –composed of the Minister Caroline Turnerthe minister Claudio Jara and the lawyer (i) Carmen Gonzalez– accepted the constitutional actions presented by the defenses of the priests of Bastres and Santibáñez.
The court established that there is not enough background to justify the existence of the underlying crime (the abduction of the adolescent Ricardo Harex), nor, consequently, the participation attributed to the protected parties.
“In no case is the existence of the underlying crime sufficiently justified, in the terms required by article 274 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which means that the attempted arbitration must necessarily be accepted,” the ruling states.
“The resolution that it submits to the process has another shortcoming that by itself would also lead to the same identical result. In fact, the precise hypothesis of concealment that is foisted on the defendant is not procedurally determined in the resolution,” the document adds.
Harex Disappearance
In her resolution, Minister Marta Pinto established that Harex left her house on the night of October 19, 2001, on her way to a friend’s birthday, which was held in a barbecue area. The teenager left the scene in the early hours of October 20 and headed to the Esso Market gas station, where he consumed a drink and a meal. In that place he disappeared.
“The aforementioned disappearance is attributable to the participation of third parties who could present psychopathological alterations and/or institutional power; and undercover by members of the aforementioned institutions and that corresponds to qualify as the abduction of a minor under 18 years of age,” the document states.
