Human Rights organizations have demanded this Thursday to the president of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, a «political solution» for the release of the indigenous leader Milagro Sala, sentenced to 13 years in prison for embezzlement of public funds.
The Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (APDH) of Argentina and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Founding Line have pointed out that the president «really has the will to pardon her», remarking that «(Fernandez) has committed himself to provide a solution».
Eduardo Tavani, from APDH, insisted that «what prevails is the political solution»: «That is what we came to ask the President», he added in declarations to the media after meeting with the head of the Government at the Casa Rosada.
«That is the priority, and what the president must do as head of the Executive is to solve it from the political point of view», reported Télam news agency.
In this line, Taty Almeida, of Madres de Plaza de Mayo Línea Fundadora, has affirmed that Fernández «has committed herself» during the meeting. «It was a tough exchange of opinions and views, she continues to maintain that the pardon cannot prosper», she indicated.
«We believe that it can, just as we believe that the intervention to the provincial justice system can prosper, which is what we have come to present to her», Almeida said, alleging that the magistrates that make up the court «deny justice and the law».
«The confirmation of Milagro’s conviction is a fact in this sense (…) The solution must be quick and effective and must resolve the clear violation of Milagro’s rights, who has been suffering seven years in preventive prison», denounced the activist.
The Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina confirmed last Thursday the sentence to 13 years in prison to the indigenous leader Milagro Sala for embezzlement of public funds in the framework of the ‘Pibes Villeros’ case, which also involves provincial officials and cooperative members.
Argentina’s highest court has dismissed the appeal filed by her defense and charged the social leader with «illicit association» and «defrauding the state», as reported by the Télam news agency.
The leader of the Túpac Amaru group was part of a scheme that received large amounts of public money intended for the construction of housing through different cooperatives, to be subsequently diverted to Pibes Villeros, between 2013 and 2015, according to newspaper ‘Clarín’.
Sala was already sentenced in 2017 to three years in prison for instigating escraches against the governor of Jujuy, Gerardo Morales. Likewise, the indigenous leader was acquitted of charges against her for attempted murder for allegedly hiring hitmen to kill a man in 2007.
Tupac Amaru, the group led by Sala, is a union of an indigenous nature that is linked to the Central de Trabajadores de Argentina (CTA). It has 70,000 members and is present in 15 of the 23 provinces that make up the southern nation.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
