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News > Chile

Boric Urges Chilean Senate To Pardon 2019 Protests Prisoners

  • The banner reads,

    The banner reads, "Freedom to anti-government protests' political prisoners," Santiago de Chile, Chile, Jan. 7, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/ @El_Ciudadano

Published 11 January 2022
Opinion

Passing laws in favor of political prisoners could be difficult in the next Senate, which will have a larger number of far-right lawmakers.

On Monday, Chile’s President-elect Gabriel Boric asked the Senate to approve before February a bill to pardon the citizens who were detained during the 2019 protests.

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"Our team spoke with the prisoners’ relatives and understood that their loved-ones situation is difficult and cannot wait any longer,” Boric highlighted, adding that the bill shall also repair citizens whose businesses were affected during the demonstrations.

He considered that the initiative must be approved by the current Parliament and not the one that will take office along with Boric on March 1, given that far-right parties will have more seats in the next Senate.

"We need at least two votes from right-wing senators to pass the bill, and I hope that the current Parliament's composition allows us to meet this goal," the President-elect stated. 

On Jan. 7, relatives of political prisoners held a demonstration before Boric’s headquarters in the Providencia Commune to demand that he discuss possible ways of speeding the bill approval.

Although he could not receive the relatives, his advisors welcomed them, reiterated their commitment to the bill, and pledged to strengthen an inclusive dialogue to solve this problem.

"Under no circumstances, the pardon of political prisoners should not be addressed as a winner-loser situation. The case will only be resolved with unity and not by pitting one group against another," Boric stressed.

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