The Chilean government has expanded its lawsuit regarding the assault on Minister of Science Ximena Lincolao, upgrading the legal classification of the incident by invoking the State Security Law. The move aims to overturn a decision by the Valdivia Guarantee Court, which issued only minor precautionary measures for the three students charged in the incident at the Austral University of Chile.
This new legal strategy, led by the Ministry of Security under the direction of Trinidad Steinert, argues that the events do not merely constitute an attack on an official but could be classified as kidnapping. According to reports from La Tercera, the Executive branch bases this reclassification on the fact that the minister was trapped in the university's Aula Magna for nearly two hours, unable to leave because protesters had blocked all exits.
The defendants, identified as Pablo Vásquez, Joaquín Monje, and María Jesús Madariaga, were formally charged last Monday following the incidents in early April. Thus far, Magistrate Pablo Yáñez has imposed restrictions preventing them from approaching the victim and requiring them to report to the court every two weeks.
Use of the State Security Law
To underscore the gravity of the incident, the Ministry of Security has invoked Article 5, letter b, of the State Security Law. This statute penalizes those who, with the intent to disrupt constitutional order or public safety, deprive a person of their liberty to impose demands or force decisions upon an authority. As detailed by La Tercera, the application of this law has been exceptional, previously used during contexts such as the 2019 social unrest, the 2022 trucker strikes, and the violence in the Southern Macrozone.
The administration's strategy at La Moneda is aimed directly at changing the students' legal status; the charge of attacking an official carries very light penalties, and the defendants have no prior criminal records. By introducing the charge of kidnapping, the Executive opens the door to much more severe precautionary measures, such as pretrial detention.
However, the expansion of the lawsuit, which was ruled admissible on April 22, faces potential judicial hurdles. The news outlet El Mostrador notes that this new legal push relies on testimony already present in the proceedings, including reports of shoving, the throwing of liquids, and the coordinated nature of the protest.
Sources consulted by La Tercera warned that the Ministry of Security may not have provided any new or different evidence beyond what was included in the original complaint. This lack of new information could create difficulties when the Valdivia Court of Appeals is called to rule on the government's appeal regarding Judge Yáñez's resolution.
