The Fourth Chamber of the Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago (Santiago Court of Appeals) upheld the refusal to let the former mayor of Recoleta, Daniel Jadue (PC), travel to Brazil, according to BioBioChile. The court found that there is a flight risk in the Farmacias Populares case.
According to that outlet, which cites Ex Ante, Jadue wanted to travel to Sao Paulo to undergo medical treatment with his wife, who is a Brazilian national. The source does not specify the exact date on which the Court issued its ruling and only says it was "yesterday".
Jadue has been formally charged, meaning the Fiscalía (Public Prosecutor's Office) is formally investigating him, but he has not been tried. He is accused of repeated fraud against the state treasury, swindling, bribery and an insolvency-related offense. According to the Fiscalía, the crimes allegedly took place while he headed the Asociación Chilena de Municipalidades con Farmacias Populares (Achifarp), the Chilean association of municipalities with community pharmacies.
He is currently under overnight house arrest and a national travel ban. The travel ban (arraigo nacional) is a precautionary measure that prohibits him from leaving the country, which is why he had to ask the courts for permission to travel.
On October 15, the judge of the Tercer Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago (Santiago's Third Court of Guarantee, a pretrial court), Lilian Sáez, rejected the request. She argued that, if the departure were authorized, "there is indeed a flight risk", given the sentence the defendant faces, which would have to be served in prison in the event of a conviction.
The judge added that the medical treatment is also available in Chile. She specified that the ban targets leaving the country because the case is close to the preparation of the oral trial, where the defendant faces "extremely high sentences".
Jadue's defense appealed, and the Corte de Apelaciones upheld the first-instance ruling. The source does not report whether the former mayor will take the matter to a higher court.
The hearing to prepare the oral trial, in which the court determines the evidence to be presented at trial, is set for October 29. The Fiscalía Centro Norte (North Central Prosecutor's Office) is seeking 18 years in prison for Jadue.