The lawyer representing the defense of President Piñera, Jorge Gálvez, once again presented before the parliamentary commission in the Chamber of Deputies in charge of studying the constitutional accusation presented against the President, in check for his participation in the sale of the Dominga mining project in 2011. The The lawyer maintained that the action “does not respect the presumption of innocence.”
The discharges continued this Saturday. Yesterday the defense of the head of state described as “cunning political maneuvering and with clear electoral purposes” the political trial that is being carried out against him as a result of the Pandora Papers scandal. And they even targeted the previous government.
Today the commission met for the second day to review the libel and listen to the defense of President Piñera, from where they insisted that the accusation does not meet the legal or constitutional requirements for its origin.
Attorney Gálvez stated that “the constitutional accusation is based on mere assumptions, is vague, has generic references to norms and does not respect the principle of presumption of innocence, therefore, it seriously affects the principle of presumption of innocence.”
“Notice, for example, how the final paragraph of page 26 of the accusation says: ‘It is necessary to point out that the adoption by Chile of the Escazú Agreement makes the realization of the Dominga mining project unfeasible.’ This paragraph I believe is a sample very graphic of the way in which this constitutional accusation is constructed “, argued the jurist in his plea.
Gálvez stressed that the initiative to establish a protected coastal area in the La Higuera area is not that it was not considered for political reasons, and ruled out that the President “has developed any action to prevent environmental protection.”
In this second day of defense presentation, Gálvez’s speech focused on a detailed description of the project that seeks to qualify the La Higuera area, in the Coquimbo Region, as a protected marine area.
It is worth mentioning that the third clause of the transaction contract of the mining company, filtered by international journalistic investigation, in parallel, is being investigated by the Public Ministry to clarify the participation of President Piñera.
In that sense, Gálvez stressed that “the accusation is not effective in terms that the President has carried out an act destined to intervene in the area to deprive it of protection”, and assured that “that does not converge with the facts.”
The deputy Florcita Alarcón (independent) maintained that the defense of the President was “very educational, but absolutely legal,” and according to what he told CooperativeThat “won’t do you any good because the constitutional prosecution is political.”
The review commission of the constitutional accusation against President Piñera will have a period of six days to study the background and determine a position through a non-binding report.
After that, the voting will begin in the Chamber of Deputies and Deputies. At that time, the defendant can invoke the previous question in case he finds it pertinent that the accusation does not comply with the regulatory conditions.
If the previous question is accepted and approved by the parliamentarians, the constitutional accusation may not reach port.
If they decide to continue with it, the Lower House will have to discuss the merits of the libel, but it will require 78 votes to be approved. If it reaches that support, the accusation will have to be reviewed by the Senate and the president will be suspended from his functions pending the final result.
