Senator Fabiola Campillai on Friday rejected the parole granted to former police officer Patricio Maturana, according to chilevision.cl. The Talca Parole Commission granted parole unanimously. Maturana was convicted of the attack that blinded the senator in 2019.
According to the outlet, the former officer will be eligible for parole starting this coming December 2. Campillai set out her position in a public statement. "As a victim and as a senator of the Republic, I state clearly that this decision constitutes an act of impunity," she wrote.
The senator said she appeared before the commission to oppose parole. According to her account, Maturana "has never asked for my forgiveness or acknowledged the harm caused" and also "denied the facts throughout the proceedings". The report does not detail the arguments the commission considered in granting parole.
Campillai warned that the ruling sends a troubling message to victims of human rights violations. In her view, it suggests that sentences can be reduced even when crimes were committed through the exercise of state power.
The case remains one of the symbols of the 2019 social unrest, the wave of protests that prompted numerous complaints against state agents. Campillai lost her sight, taste and smell following the attack. She later entered the Senate.
The senator announced that she will pursue every available judicial avenue to reverse the decision. "If necessary, we will turn to international bodies," she said. She did not specify which legal challenges she would file or when. So far, other media outlets have not reported on those actions.
Campillai reaffirmed her commitment to the victims of the unrest and their families. She said she would continue working for truth, justice, comprehensive reparations and guarantees of non-repetition. "I will keep standing," she concluded. Maturana’s parole is expected to take effect on December 2, unless a court overturns it beforehand.
