The Corte Suprema (Chile's Supreme Court) removed four more judges who traveled abroad while on medical leave, bringing the total to 15 magistrates removed, according to BioBioChile. Francisco Leturia, former president of the Consejo para la Transparencia (Council for Transparency), questioned how the country's highest court is applying these sanctions.
The Consejo para la Transparencia is the autonomous body that oversees compliance with Chile's law on access to public information. Leturia spoke on the program Podría Ser Peor, on BioBioChile.
In his view, the Corte Suprema is trying to send a public message of severity, "making a sharp turn of the helm". However, he argued that it was the system that failed.
As an example, Leturia cited the case of a judge who had spent three years in Spain on medical leave, drawing a salary and posting photos on Instagram. He said it was a situation everyone knew about. The outlet did not identify the magistrate.
The former head also criticized that the sanctions are being applied without prior rules. "You can't make the yardstick you measure with at the same time you're measuring", he said. He added that there is still no regulation covering these offenses and that the procedures are arbitrary.
Asked about possible institutional complicity in the so-called Caso Licencias (medical leave case), Leturia said it exists. He explained that the medical leaves worked as "a right that was won in collective bargaining".
For him, the most serious issue is that supervisors did not dare to enforce the law. He attributed this to fear of public employee associations or to belonging to the same "trenza" (inner circle). He described the conduct as "stealing in a sustainable way" and held responsible the political groups that have been in power.
Leturia warned that when citizens see that laws are "just for decoration", the country begins to decay.
The process remains open. On October 19, the full Corte Suprema will review five more cases, whose proceedings had been suspended by the Tribunal Constitucional (Constitutional Court).
