[ad_1]
The La Serena Local Prosecutor’s Office requested the formalization of the Army Captain José Faúndez Sepúlveda for the crimes of unnecessary violence resulting in serious injuries, simple homicide and for the illicit serious injuries as perpetrator and consummated degree.
The case for which the uniformed officer will be formalized dates back to Sunday, October 20 in the city of La Serena. It was during that afternoon, after 6:00 p.m. and while the state of emergency was in force in the first hours of the social crisis, that a march was carried out that went along Ruta Cinco Norte towards Amunátegui Street, when some stores in the Mall Plaza La Serena began to be looted.
In this context, with the aim of restoring public order, Captain Faúndez, who at that time He served as commander of the Fundamental Emergency Unit (UFE 1), ordered the attendance at the place of the Second Section of the UFE 1. This section, according to the facts presented by the prosecution to the La Serena Guarantee Court, was made up of at least 25 military personnel, of which nine were permanent staff. and 16 conscripts. In order to carry out public order tasks, the Public Ministry reports, that morning, each soldier was given a SIG 7.62-caliber war rifle. Later, in the afternoon, the replacement of this rifle was instructed by the GALIL brand war rifle, caliber 5.56, a replacement that was materialized by 2 of the 4 indicated squads.
In the letter that entered the prosecutor Germán Calquín The following observation is made: “The war rifles used in this deployment were not homogeneously ammunitioned, in relation to the number of war ammunition and blanks that each weapon had. Thus, there were rifles that were loaded with 25 war ammunition and 5 blank ammunition; others were loaded with 17 munitions of war and 3 blanks; others loaded with 19 munitions of war and 1 blank; while others were supplied with 12 war ammunition and 8 blanks ”.
When the military presence was deployed, the persecutor points out that “the looters abandoned their action, fleeing north towards Calle Amunátegui.” Despite that, says Calquín, “Without prejudice to the restoration of public order, the defendant José Faúndez ordered the advance of the line in a chain of shooters with the indication ‘form a line’ and ‘advance’, an instruction that was followed by the military who advanced to the height of the store Paris”.
When it was already 6.15pm, according to the investigation by the prosecution, “the accused Captain José Faúndez he instructed the Army officials under his command to set the selector of the war rifle to ‘1’ and then give the verbal order to percuss the ammunition ‘fire’ ”.
More about Public ministry
In the opinion of the Public Ministry, this order was interpreted differently by the uniformed men present, which led to the events for which the military will be formalized: “Before the order to open fire, conscripts and plant officials present in the place, began to fire their rifles in a direct direction at the bodies of the people in front of them. The first shots corresponded to blank ammunition according to the distribution of the ammunition of the rifles. However, the number of shots to be fired for each order of fire was interpreted differently between the Patrol Chiefs and Squad Commander. Thus, for some the order of fire authorized to detonate a shot for each order, for others it allowed to detonate more than one shot and there were even those who understood that the order of fire allowed to carry out a cadence of shots that was only interrupted when mediating the order of fire. ‘ceasefire'”.
It was at that moment that, as stated in the prosecution’s brief, “In view of the plurality of interpretations of the order of fire and the lack of uniformity in the numbers of war bullets and blanks that each rifle had, a cadence of shots was produced that lasted approximately one minute in which the bullets were percussed. not only blanks, but also war ammunition, one of which hit the victim Rolando Alberto Robledo Vergara, who was located in the pasture near Amunátegui street without having taken part in any disturbance to public order ”. Robledo suffered serious injuries to his abdomen.
In that same presentation, the persecutor Calquín affirms that “The order of fire decreed by the accused meant the use of unjustified, disproportionate and unnecessary violence in the control of public order, considering that the security of the sector had been restored seven minutes before, when the looters were deterred by the mere military presence. On the other hand, there was no hostile act or attempt underway that was proportional to the use of lethal and non-lethal force by the Army, in accordance with the Rules of Use of Force. Later, the persecutor adds that “the injuries caused to the victim Rolando Robledo were the result and realization of a risk created by the accused, which was not foreseen despite the fact that it was possible.”
Despite what had already happened, the records of the Public Prosecutor’s Office show that “instead of executing actions aimed at avoiding collateral damage and interrupting or avoiding the cadence of new war shots, at approximately 6:22 p.m., the accused instructed a second fire order, which was not justified, since at that minute there was no hostile act or attempt that was proportional to the use of lethal and non-lethal force in accordance with the rules of use of force ”.
It was at that moment that what occurred, in the opinion of the prosecution, is simple homicide. “The accused instructed for the second time, at least 30 soldiers, to fire their rifles, mostly loaded with war ammunition, directed against the people who were in the place, originating a new cadence of shots, in which they struck not only blank ammunition, but also war ammunition, one of which hit the victim Romario Wladimir Veloz Cortés, who was standing in the vicinity of the berm on Alberto Solari street, at the height of the bus terminal, who instantly vanished ”and passed away at the scene.
In addition, as a result of this order there was a third victim. The Public Ministry reports that it is Cesar Antonio Veliz Cortes who “rebuked the military for the use of rifles.” Veliz was “hit in his leg by a munition of war, causing serious injuries consisting of ‘vascular trauma, firearm injury to the femoral artery and vein'”.
