Federal court reopens Santiago Maldonado investigation

The Federal Appeals Court of Comodoro Rivadavia yesterday ordered the reopening of the investigation into the death of Santiago Maldonado, the late artisan and activist who was found dead in Chubut two years ago.

Maldonado’s death in 2017 proved to highly divisive, prompting furore, mass demonstrations on the streets and accusations the government’s security forces had carried out his “forced disappearance.” The discovery of his body two-and-a-half

months later, just 300 metres from where he had gone missing prompted a subsequent investigation, from which a panel of experts concluded he had drowned, with no sign of violence on the body.

The new arm of the investigation will not examine the cause of his disappearance, but rather whether agents of the Gendarmerie (Border Guard) were guilty of a “dereliction of duty” when they permitted Maldonado and other indigenous activists to flee towards a nearby river, despite facing the danger of drowning, after officers had broken up a roadblock.

The court has also revoked the acquittal, ruled by Judge Gustavo Lleral, of charges against Gendarmerie officer Emmanuel Echazú, to date the only person who has been charged in the case.

The ruling of judges Hebe Corchuelo de Huberman, Aldo Suarez and Javier Leal de Ibarra, who met yesterday, criticised the closing of the investigation by Lleral, who merely investigated a potential “forced disappearance,” rather than if the actions of the Gendarmerie amounted to “dereliction of duty.”

The judges accepted Lleral’s conclusion that Maldonado drowned in the Chubut River, but was not killed. They hope to inquire if Gendarmerie officials, who on various occasions said demonstrators “escaped towards the river,” should shoulder responsibility for the drowning.