Juan Aliste Vega dies in Penitentiary Hospital before humanitarian pardon decision
The former Movimiento Lautaro activist, sentenced to 42 years for the homicide of Carabineros officer Moyano, died of terminal cancer in Santiago. His pardon request to President Kast was not resolved.
Man condemned for Cabo Moyano's death dies without pardon decision
Juan Manuel Aliste Vega, a former member of the Movimiento Lautaro sentenced to 42 years in prison for the homicide of Carabineros officer Luis Moyano, died this Sunday at Santiago's Penitentiary Hospital from terminal cancer. He was 53 years old.
According to biobiochile.cl, the death was confirmed by sources with knowledge of the case, who stated that Aliste received medical attention in the Gendarmería hospital facility due to the advanced state of his illness.
Pardon requested six days before his death
The death occurred just six days after a humanitarian pardon request was submitted to the Ministry of Justice, addressed to President José Antonio Kast. Through that request, Aliste sought to serve the remaining time of his sentence at his home, accompanied by his wife and children. However, the request was not resolved before his death.
According to the same sources, the procedure was at a stage of gathering records, which involved requesting reports from various institutions to compile the necessary file for its evaluation. Gendarmería was to deliver an official communication regarding the death in the coming hours.
Cancer with metastasis in bones, liver and lungs
On 5 October, Aliste Vega had submitted his humanitarian pardon request to the Ministry of Justice, arguing that he suffered from terminal cancer with metastasis in the bones of the pelvis, the liver and both lungs. In the letter, which BioBioChile obtained, he acknowledged the seriousness of his crimes but asked the president to consider his medical situation.
"I know that my convictions are serious and that this request requires a reasoned and responsible decision. I do not intend to deny them or downplay the suffering of the victims and their families," he stated in the document.
A medical certificate issued in July estimated a maximum life expectancy of three months. A second report, from September, warned that there was a risk of death within hours, days or weeks.
"It is not possible to know with certainty how much time I have left. That is why I beg that this request be examined with urgency," Aliste wrote.
His petition sought, in the first place, the remission of the balance of his sentences and, alternatively, the commutation for a sentence that would allow him to receive palliative care at home. "My illness has limited almost everything I can do, but I can still receive and express affection," he stated in the text.
Sentenced to 42 years for Bank Security robbery and homicide
Aliste Vega was sentenced for his participation in the Bank Security robbery that occurred on 18 October 2007 on Agustinas Street in downtown Santiago. During the robbers' flight, Carabineros officer Luis Moyano was killed.
In 2014 the court imposed sentences totalling 42 years in prison: 18 years for the homicide of the police officer, 10 years for the attempted homicide of officer Fernán Abarca and another 14 years for the robberies of the Security and Santander banks.
Before submitting the pardon request, his defence had attempted to judicially modify the manner of serving the sentence due to his deteriorated state of health. On 2 October, the Supreme Court upheld the rejection of an amparo appeal, although with the dissenting vote of Minister Jorge Zepeda, who voted to admit the action so that an exceptional manner of serving the sentence could be urgently evaluated.
Political controversy and resignation from Republican Party
The humanitarian pardon request sparked political controversy after Republican Party parliamentarians showed themselves open to evaluating the benefit under humanitarian criteria. The discussion extended to the possibility of applying similar criteria to those condemned for violations of human rights during the military dictatorship.
Deputy Macarena Santelices resigned from the Republican Party on 7 October amid differences with the party over support for the former Lautaro activist's request, although she later clarified that her distancing was also due to other factors. Santelices questioned whether the case could be used as a precedent to facilitate pardons for other condemned persons.
Former minister Gajardo: "Immoral"
The controversy was joined by former Minister of Justice Jaime Gajardo, who in an interview with BioBioChile—before Aliste Vega's death became known—sharply questioned the support of Republican sectors for the request.
"Immoral. Immoral... I think it is a bargaining chip that is absolutely immoral in its approach," Gajardo responded when asked about that stance.
The former government official maintained that presidential pardons should constitute an exceptional tool, mainly for humanitarian reasons, but argued that there are limits that, in his view, should not be exceeded in the case of people condemned for terrorism.
Source: Google News CL — Crime