According to a statement from the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh), the trial established that during the 2019 social uprising, police officer Claudio Crespo premeditatedly shot Gustavo Gatica, who lost his sight due to his injuries.

The text reads, “In this regard, we are deeply concerned about the acquittal, because it raises the concern that other officers, protected by a supposed role of social control and repression, could be acquitted and enjoy impunity under similar criteria.”

The PCCh also regrets that the judges went beyond the legal realm and made a political interpretation of the events in Chile between October 18, 2019, and March 20, 2020.

The group expressed its full solidarity with Gustavo Gatica, who was elected to Congress in last year’s elections and will take his seat in the National Congress as of March.

The Academy of Christian Humanism University in this nation (UAHC), where Gatica studied, rejected the Court’s ruling, which applied the Nain Retamal Law to exempt Crespo from legal responsibility for the serious injuries inflicted on the victim.

Broad Front (FA) lawmaker Claudia Mix stated that, after Claudio Crespo’s acquittal, the Nain Retamal Law assures impunity faced with state violence.

Gatica announced that they will appeal the ruling and, if necessary, will take the case to international courts to obtain justice.

abo/iff/mem/car/eam