Juan Aliste Vega dies aged 53 at Santiago Penitentiary Hospital
The former member of the Lautaro Movement, sentenced to 42 years for the homicide of officer Luis Moyano, died this Sunday from terminal cancer. His pardon request to President Kast remained unresolved.
Former Lautaro member dies in prison condemned for murder of officer Moyano
Juan Aliste Vega, a former member of the Lautaro Movement who was serving a 42-year prison sentence for a series of serious crimes, died this Sunday at the Penitentiary Hospital of Santiago, according to latercera.com. He was 53 years old and suffered from stage four terminal cancer, the disease for which he had been admitted since 19 August.
Gendarmería de Chile confirmed his death in a statement: "After suffering a medical emergency, he was attended by health personnel at the facility, who confirmed his death at the scene". The death was certified at 8:39 am by medical staff from Gendarmería's Health Department.
Sentenced for police homicide in 2007
Aliste Vega had begun serving his sentence on 22 July 2010 for crimes committed between the 1990s and 2000s, among them the homicide of Carabineros officer Luis Moyano, which occurred in October 2007 following a raid on a bank branch in Santiago. His sentence was scheduled to end on 9 June 2053.
Presidential pardon requested without response
In recent weeks, the deterioration of his health prompted a pardon request directed to President José Antonio Kast. In the letter, Aliste Vega acknowledged the seriousness of the crimes for which he was convicted, but appealed to his physical condition to seek an urgent response: "It is not possible to know with certainty how much time I have left. That is why I beg you to examine this request with urgency", he wrote.
The petition was submitted after the Supreme Court upheld the rejection of an appeal by his defence that sought to modify the manner in which his sentence was being served.
Justice Minister Fernando Rabat confirmed that the request had been received on 5 October and that the Executive would evaluate the case background. "As I have stated on multiple occasions, we are going to study each case", he declared, clarifying that at that time "there are no decisions made".
Support from the Republican Party
The pardon request received support from an unexpected quarter: the general secretary of the Republican Party, Vicente Bruna, defended the possibility of granting the benefit on humanitarian grounds. "Justice is not revenge and humanitarian reasons do not respond to political considerations", said Bruna, who further proposed extending that criterion to convicted members of the Armed Forces and law enforcement who presented serious illnesses.
After confirming the death, Gendarmería activated the corresponding protocols: the psychosocial team informed the inmate's family members of what had occurred and notified the Public Prosecutor's Office.
Source: Google News CL — Crime