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On Friday, May 31, 2019, the life of Luis Gonzalez had an abrupt break, after he was arrested along with three other people, accused of participating in the burning of a Transantiago bus in Providencia, in the Metropolitan region. Must have fulfilled 18 days of preventive detention in Santiago 1 and after several months, the court decreed his definitive dismissal of the case.
During the process he lost his job and experienced traumatic episodes inside the prison. Because, sued the treasury for $ 250 million for moral damages and damages.
The apprehension of the 19-year-old and Duoc UC Audit student took place on the way home in Conchalí after leaving his job in Las Condes.
An alleged witness would have identified him as one of the authors of the burning of a bus at the intersection of Huelén and Providencia streets.
With this argument he was formalized by the crime of fire and public disorder, remaining with the precautionary measure of preventive detention, which he fulfilled for 18 days in the Santiago 1 prison, since it was later replaced by the monthly signature.
Several months later, as indicated from the first moment by the student’s family, the Eighth Guarantee Court of Santiago decided to dismiss it definitively.
The family’s struggle to prove their innocence
According to the young man’s mother, Ivonne Valdivia, her son was waiting for a bus when he was stopped by the police.
Moreover, when he was detained, one of his friends obtained the records of the security cameras in the sector, which showed that the young man was traveling through other streets when the Transantiago burned, as well as before and after the fact.
Based on the videos, between 8:09 p.m. and 8:11 p.m. when the crime occurred, Luis was walking along Providencia Avenue. Minutes later, at 8:17 p.m. he is seen walking and at 8:20 p.m. he passes a gallery.
“Carabineros never thought that we were so stubborn and would leave our feet in the street looking for evidence. I would kneel down so that they would give me the camera records, ”he said.
Luis’s story
In conversation with BioBioChileLuis González detailed his route on Friday, May 31, after leaving work, going to see some ceramics at the Costanera Center and the journey he made to take the bus back home.
He assured that when he was going to take the micro B27, in the vicinity of Salvador, where he noticed that between that station and Manuel Montt there were excesses due to the marches that had previously developed in the place.
“The more I walked, the effect of the tear gas can make me cry and dry my throat,” González recalled. He continued on his way to La Copec located at the intersection of Huelén with Providencia, where -as he said- “You couldn’t see anything because it was full of smoke”, returning to take the Metro.
Halfway through he regrets to turn for Andrés Bello. “I went to Andrés Bello and started walking again towards Salvador, I crossed the Plaza de la Aviación and waiting for the last traffic light to turn green to cross, a Special Forces policeman touched me on the shoulder,” he said.
Then they reviewed him his backpack and they asked for his license, he was handcuffed and taken to a police vehicle where the other three young men were. “I asked why they were taking us. We were supposed to be friends, but I didn’t know any of the three. ” From there they were transferred to the police station.
“I explained that I was not in the march and they did not catch me (…) He said that I studied, worked and why was I going to be involved in those things. It was a moment of helplessness, anger and grief ”, nobody paid attention to him.
Demand
On September 8, Luis González, through his lawyer Yasna Celis, They filed a claim for compensation of $ 250 million against the Treasury for moral damages and losses due to lack of services on the part of the Carabineros and the Public Ministry, through the East Prosecutor’s Office.
The foregoing, due to the accusations, formalization and submission to restrictive measures of freedom, transgressing the principle of innocence, by forcing the affected person to serve a sentence for a crime they did not commit, as it was accredited in the final dismissal on October 23, 2019.
They explain that the young “He was a victim of serious violations of his human and fundamental rights” for the actions of the aforementioned agencies, which “led to the destruction of Luis González’s life project and naturally and consequently, the destruction of a project that involved his entire family.”
They accuse that the “disastrous events” that followed his arrest (formalization and deprivation of his liberty) were “plagued with nonsense, negligence, tricks and acts of bad faith.”
His days behind bars
In the lawsuit, Luis recounted how he experienced its formalization and his crude stay in jail.
“Once in the courts it was a long process, from the Carabineros we were put in charge by Gendarmerie personnel, who took my data and locked us up in cells, they mixed me with all kinds of people. Other inmates stole some things from me, but I already understood that it was better not to do or say anything (…) I was very scared, it really was another world for me ”, story.
When the judge issued a verdict on the precautionary measures, he established that the detainees were a danger to society; however, the student questioned, “All the cases before mine, people who had a whole criminal record, were released and I was granted prison without anything against it.
Once in module 34, “one of those in charge (prisoners) takes me and begins to speak to me as super friendly, in fact I missed his actions and did not know what was coming. His intention was to take me away from where the gendarmes were so that he could take all my things from me, I remember they entered a place where they told him ‘The workshop’ to later threaten me with knives if I did not deliver everything they stabbed me ”.
Things did not improve when the injunction was replaced. “I was with a psychologist and psychiatrist -treatment that one day when I have financial resources and that I hope to be able to resume- to be able to overcome this entire episode of my life that had marked me.”
“Unfortunately I lost my job since they couldn’t wait for me any longer and they had really waited a long time for me. Nor could I go back to my studies 100%, I did not concentrate, I did not go because of fear of leaving my house. I remember that I was signed monthly for 4 months, I had to go to sign at the 33rd police station in Ñuñoa, it was the worst for me since I had a gigantic rejection of the Carabineros institution for what they had done to me without ever justifying their Act, I never wanted to go near a police station again in my life “added.
For the above, he stated that “Carabineros and Prosecutor’s Office must understand the damage they cause by not fulfilling the work that the President and the law entrusts to them, the law is for everyone, not only for me, but also for them. I was in another place and I was not listened to ”.
They ask for justice
The young man’s mother requested the same, who indicated that they seek justice to be done. “Money is not going to give my son back the life he had, but it can help them learn to do their job well. Prosecutor’s Office, judges, police officers, did a bad procedure with Luis and they have to pay for the damage that my son continues to suffer ”.
Ivonne Valdivia stressed that thanks to her son’s good grades and the support of the university and her classmates, she did not lose her career, or else the collateral effects of her imprisonment would have been much greater.
With a broken voice, the woman acknowledged feeling anger and grief, and she continues to question why they did not carry out the investigation correctly, why they did not put on the table that Luis was never related to something criminal.
Luis González is currently part of the Innocents Project of the Public Criminal Defense Office that seeks to impose new challenges to improve certain practices, habits and work routines of the main actors of the justice system.
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