The extraordinary visiting minister Álvaro Mesa Latorre issued indictment No. 84 and filed charges against Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichauer Salcedo, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, and Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz for their responsibility as accomplices in the crime against humanity of kidnapping with serious injury of 8 young men.

The extraordinary visiting minister for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Claudio Mesa Latorre, issued indictment No. 84 in the cases he is processing and filed charges against the military prosecutor at the time of the events, Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, and retired Army officers Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichauer Salcedo, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, and Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz, for their responsibility as accomplices in the crime against humanity of kidnapping with serious injury of Hugo Arner González Ortega, Elías Dagoberto González Ortega, Carlos Schmidt Arriagada, Ricardo Schmidt Arriagada, Juan de Dios Cabrera Figueroa, Alejandro Escobar Vásquez, Héctor Domingo Aguayo Olavarría, and Raúl Marcial Figueroa Burckhardt. These crimes were perpetrated between late September and early October 1973 in the commune of Pucón.

In the resolution (case file 4.473), Minister Mesa Latorre identified retired Carabineros officer Luis Robinson Bustos Letelier as the perpetrator of the crime of illegal detention of the González Ortega brothers, the Schmidt Arriagada brothers, Cabrera Figueroa, Escobar Vásquez, Aguayo Olavarría, and Figueroa Burckhardt.

The facts During the investigative stage of the case, the visiting minister managed to gather sufficient evidence to establish the following facts:

“A.-

That immediately following the military coup of September 11, 1973, the country's new authorities ordered the systematic persecution and detention of militants and sympathizers of the Unidad Popular parties, especially those who held positions in the deposed public administration, as evidenced by, among other proofs, the statements of Luis Robinson Bustos Letelier, from fs. 413 to fs. 414 vta. (volume II); of Ricardo Virginio Aguayo Olavarría, from fs. 2,055 to fs. 2,057 (volume VI) and from fs. 2,061 to fs. 2,062 (volume VI); and military decrees published in the press of the time, from fs. 2,979 to fs. 2,998 (volume IX).

B.-

That in Temuco, the armed forces and security forces took control of the city, with Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded at fs. 3,898, volume XI), Commander of the No. 8 ‘Tucapel’ Infantry Regiment of this city, establishing himself as Governor of Temuco, and who also remained as Chief of the Temuco Garrison, as recorded, for example, in the statement of Óscar Alfonso Podlech Michaud, from fs. 3,788 to fs. 3,796 (volume XI).

C.-

That in this sense, on the very day of September 11, 1973, the lawyer Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, who was also a Reserve Lieutenant of the Chilean Army, was called to collaborate with the new regime.

He presented himself at the ‘Tucapel’ Regiment to support the management of the Military Prosecutor's Office that operated inside the unit, which was in charge of the Second Commander, Major Luis Jofré Soto (deceased, as recorded at fs. 3,899, volume XI).

This officer, however, had to assume greater functions as Second Commander of the Tucapel Regiment shortly thereafter; from that day forward, civilians began to arrive at the Regiment who had been called to present themselves before the Military Prosecutor's Office through decrees published in the written press and on the radio, or who were brought in as detainees by Carabineros and/or military patrols from different points in the region, mainly from police stations and outposts, as recorded, among other proofs, in the military decrees published in the press of the time (…).

D.-

That given the high number of detainees and people called to provide statements, the Military Prosecutor's Office was reinforced to carry out its work with officials of the Judiciary who were requested from the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Temuco by the aforementioned lawyer, who, acting as Ad-hoc Prosecutor, made a presentation to the Plenary of the Appellate Court, after which some clerks from different courts and a Court Rapporteur were assigned on special duty, as recorded in the statement of Adrián Segundo González Maldonado, from fs. 70 vta. to fs. 71 (volume I); and a copy of the Plenary minutes of the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Temuco, from fs. 3,786 to fs. 3,787 (volume XI), among other proofs.

E.-

That due to a lack of knowledge in criminal procedural matters, added to his weak character and his work as Second Commander of the Regiment, Major Luis Jofré Soto delegated functions as Military Prosecutor to the legal advisor of the Prosecutor's Office, Mr.

Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, who began to hold the position of de facto Prosecutor, to the point that he conducted jail visits and lawyers, relatives, and even ecclesiastical dignitaries consulted him about the fate of the detainees; however, Major Jofré Soto continued to sign the administrative dispatches most of the time and participated in some interrogations of detainees (…).

F.-

That the people called to present themselves to the Military Prosecutor's Office and those who were brought in as detainees from different points in the region were kept in facilities located next to the guardhouse and in the large gymnasium.

Once interrogated by personnel of the Military Prosecutor's Office, by detectives attached to the Regiment, or by the officers themselves who participated in these activities, among whom were Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichahuer Salcedo, and Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz, among other members of the army, some were released, only to be apprehended again later as will be detailed in point 44, others were sent to their homes under house arrest, and others were taken to the public jail where they remained while their procedural situation was resolved (…).

G.-

That also by September 1973, in the No. 8 ‘Tucapel’ Infantry Regiment of Temuco, there existed the Second Section of Information and Intelligence, which was in charge of Captain Nelson Manuel Uldaricio Ubilla Toledo (deceased, as recorded at fs. 3,500, volume X), who also exercised a duality of functions by also being the Commander of the Headquarters and Services Company of said Regiment.

In this Second Section, and under its dependency, some non-commissioned officers of that institution also performed functions, work that was reinforced after September 11, 1973, with the addition of officials from the Investigations Police and Carabineros, who provided political information to the aforementioned officer regarding all those persons subject to an investigation by the Military Prosecutor's Office.

Likewise, some officers, enlisted men, and conscripts of the Regiment joined the intelligence tasks (…).

H.-

That as the days went by, the Military Prosecutor's Office and the Second Intelligence Section began to work together to interrogate the detainees, who remained imprisoned in the jail or in some facility of the Tucapel Regiment.

To articulate this work, two locations were enabled in the military unit, one located between the Headquarters Company and the Mortar Company, and another in an old, disused gymnasium located to the side of the conscript soldiers' ‘mess hall.’ In this way, the detainees were interrogated at the Military Prosecutor's Office and physically pressured in one of the aforementioned facilities to ‘soften them up’ before or after these interrogations (…).

I.-

That in both interrogation and torture rooms, there were implements to tie up the detainees and apply electricity to different parts of their bodies, in addition to applying other types of torment such as kicks and punches.

Conscript soldiers who collaborated with Captain Nelson Ubilla Toledo participated in this task. Some officers of the ‘Tucapel’ Regiment and some non-commissioned soldiers from the Headquarters and Services Companies also participated in the interrogation and/or torture sessions of detainees in those places (…).

J.-

That, in addition to all of the above, a special group called the ‘Patrulla Brava’ (Brave Patrol) or ‘Patrulla Chacal’ (Jackal Patrol) was formed within the aforementioned military unit, composed of non-commissioned soldiers and conscripts of the Second Hunters Company, who in turn received orders from an officer.

This group was in charge, among other functions, of guarding the detainees who were kept in the facilities of the ‘Tucapel’ Regiment of Temuco (…).

K.-

That at the regional level, in the commune of Villarrica, the Forces of Order and Security, led by the Carabineros, proceeded to raid the homes of people who were known supporters of the recently overthrown government, with the aim of proceeding with their detention and, in many cases, their subsequent transfer by land or air to the facilities of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, in order to be placed at the disposal of the Military Prosecutor's Office (…).

L.-

That following the dynamic of detentions and subsequent transfer, in many cases, to the facilities of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco during the days following September 11, 1973, a significant number of people in the IX region were killed or forcibly disappeared, with several of these deaths being explained by regional military authorities through the publication of decrees issued either from the Intendancy or from the Temuco Military Garrison.

In other cases, the victims were released only to be immediately apprehended and re-entered as detainees into the facilities of the same Regiment or another institution, in order to be physically pressured to such an extent that many of them died as a result of the torture received.

Finally, in other cases, such as the one at hand, there has been a total and permanent concealment regarding the whereabouts of the victims after they remained imprisoned inside the same Regiment.

M.-

That Hugo Arner González Ortega, 23 years old, Head of Roads and Works of the Municipality of Villarrica and a militant of the Socialist Party; Elías Dagoberto González Ortega, 24 years old, Head of Warehouses for the Banco del Estado resort in Villarrica, a militant of the Socialist Party and in charge of Propaganda in Villarrica; Juan de Dios Cabrera Figueroa, 20 years old, student and militant of the Socialist Youth; Carlos Schmidt Arriagada, 21 years old, employee of the Housing Corporation (CORVI) and militant of the Socialist Party; Ricardo Augusto Schmidt Arriagada, 18 years old, student and militant of the Socialist Party; Alejandro Escobar Vásquez, 18 years old, student and militant of the Socialist Party; Héctor Domingo Aguayo Olavarría, 17 years old, student and militant of the Socialist Youth; and Raúl Marcial Figueroa Burckhardt, 22 years old, militant of the Socialist Youth, decided to leave the country because they believed their lives, or at least their physical integrity, were in serious danger, because the homes of some of them had already been raided by the Carabineros of Villarrica, who were searching for them intensely (…).

N.-

That on September 13, 1973, the eight young men identified above took a minibus that would take them toward Curarrehue, where they would attempt to cross into Argentina through a border pass. However, one of the young men regretted it and cried, which is why they all decided to get off the public transport vehicle in the Río Turbio bridge sector, near the fork in the road that leads toward the town of Caburgua and the commune of Curarrehue, respectively.

Immediately afterward, they began to march toward Caburgua, taking care not to encounter military or Carabineros patrols so as not to be detected (…).

O.-

That after having walked about eight kilometers, they spotted a vehicle approaching from Pucón. Héctor Domingo Aguayo Olavarría recognized the vehicle as the pickup truck that had belonged to his father and which had been sold some time ago to a well-known merchant in Pucón, so they did not suspect that it could be a patrol.

However, in that vehicle were Luis Robinson Bustos Letelier, Captain of the Carabineros, chief of the Pucón Sub-station (prosecuted at fs. 2,071 and following of this case), and other uniformed officers from the same unit, who, upon seeing the group of young men on the road, stopped their vehicle next to them (…).

P.-

That Luis Robinson Bustos Letelier, chief of the patrol, after a brief interrogation, ordered the detention of the eight young men without apparently carrying an order or having the legal authority for such an act, ordering their transfer to the facilities of the Pucón Sub-station.

For these purposes, the Carabineros Captain, the aforementioned officer, and some of his companions remained at the scene, while Corporal Monsalve, the driver of the vehicle, and another officer took the detainees to the Sub-station, as recorded in the statement of Diógenes Segundo Bravo Bernales, from fs. 60 to fs. 61 (volume I) and from fs. 72 vta. to fs. 73 (volume I).

In that place, there were also other people in the same status, all detained for political reasons, among them, Juan Luis Díaz Cortés, a sympathizer of the government of Salvador Allende, detained for the first time on September 14, 1973, in the commune of Curarrehue and transferred to that police facility, where he observed Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, whom he had known since he was a child, being able to notice that he was very badly mistreated physically, had an inflamed testicle, and had his hair shaved on the top of his head. ‘Chachi’ told him where they had been detained and the reasons why they decided to return to Villarrica, moments when they were intercepted by a patrol that detained them. He added that they were interrogated regarding the possession of weapons and the place where they hid them, at the same time that they were subjected to endless beatings. Subsequently, Juan Luis Díaz Cortés, along with other detainees, were removed from that police facility (…).

Q.-

That when Bustos Letelier returned to the unit, he was informed by the guard Sub-officer Diógenes Bravo Bernales that the detainees had been transferred to the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, as recorded in the statement of Luis Robinson Bustos Letelier, at fs. 58 (volume I).

R.-

That the victims were indeed entered into the facilities of the No. 8 Tucapel Infantry Regiment of Temuco, a place where, as stated, from September 11, 1973, a large number of people from different parts of the region were kept as detainees solely for their political affiliation.

After that, they would have been momentarily released (…) to finally return as detainees again to the facilities of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco.

S.-

That in the aforementioned Regiment, the victims were seen by other people who were in the same status, such is the case of the Spanish citizen Francisco Jerónimo Matta Aro, detained between Pucón and Curarrehue approximately on September 13, 1973, who confessed to his son that he knew Héctor Aguayo Olavarría because the latter's father was from the Socialist Party and a friend of his family, that both were transferred as detainees to the facilities of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, and were placed at the disposal of the Military Prosecutor Alfonso Podlech Michaud, who ordered the expulsion of his father from the national territory for supposedly being a financier of the MIR guerrilla and the Socialist Party, and ordered Héctor Aguayo, along with another person, to remain in the Prosecutor's Office as they would be interrogated, as recorded from fs. 626 to fs. 627 (volume II) and from fs. 786 to fs. 787 (volume III). For his part, Manuel Antonio Humaña Jiménez, Director at that time of School No. 17 of Curarrehue and Secretary of the Christian Assembly of that commune, detained there on September 17, 1973, and transferred to the facilities of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, not only saw Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, his student from that school, in said facility, but the latter also approached him, hugged him, and cried in his arms, telling him that he had been detained the day before along with a group of friends in the El Turbio sector of Pucón, to finally be transferred to that place; facts that are recorded from fs. 478 to fs. 479 (volume II), from fs. 501 to fs. 506 (volume II), from fs. 559 (volume II), and from fs. 3,854 to fs. 3,857 (volume XI). Likewise, in the Regiment's gymnasium, but in the bathrooms of this facility, Renato Arturo Santana Dubreuil, a militant of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was able to exchange words with Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, whom he knew by the nickname ‘el Chachi’ and knew he was only 16 years old, as recorded from fs. 581 to fs. 583 (volume II), from fs. 799 (volume III). The same occurs with René Esteban Díaz Cortés, a sympathizer of the government of Salvador Allende at that time, detained on September 17, 1973, in the commune of Curarrehue and transferred to the gymnasium of the aforementioned Regiment, a place where he observed an indeterminate number of detained people and particularly a group of 8 young men, among whom was Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, whom he also recognized by the nickname ‘el Chachi’ from years ago in Curarrehue, being able to notice that all the young men were sitting on the floor with their legs crossed, gagged, and with their hands tied behind their backs, as recorded from fs. 474 to fs. 475 (volume II), and from fs. 800 (volume III). In this same sense, Juan Luis Díaz Cortés, a sympathizer of the same government, who, as stated, in his first detention had seen Héctor Aguayo at the Pucón Carabineros Sub-station, was detained a second time in the commune of Curarrehue along with his brother René Díaz on September 17, 1973, to subsequently be transferred to the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, a place where Héctor Aguayo Olavarría directly told him that he knew the soldiers there would kill him, since they had already told him so. After that episode and in the afternoon, they were ordered to form up in the Regiment's courtyard, where an officer, whose identity Mr. Díaz does not know, read a document, naming some detainees, among whom were his brother, René Díaz Cortés, Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, and the Schmidt brothers, prisoners who were transferred to the Regiment's guardhouse, pointing out that only his brother returned and that he never saw the other detainees again, as recorded from fs. 476 to fs. 477 (volume II) and from fs. 666 (volume II). As can be seen, the dynamic regarding the 8 young men detained and kidnapped corresponded to a habitual way that the armed forces and security forces of that time had regarding opponents of the military regime, which consisted of the fact that once detained for a couple of days or weeks, they were released (false freedom) only to be detained again when they left the facility and taken to that facility. The facts described so far account for this situation. Without prejudice to what will be exposed below.

T.-

That during those days, inside the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, a conscript with the initials M.J.C.S. was serving in the Headquarters and Services Company, who, after observing the photographs of Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, Elías González Ortega, and Hugo González Ortega, which are on fs. 5 to fs. 7 of the secret case file, was able to perfectly recognize them when they were being tortured in a room located in the Headquarters and Services Company of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, a place where two officers and a group of detectives were present; stating that the detainees were transferred to this facility in plain view of everyone who was in the Company, since everyone was aware of its existence. This conscript was located 10 meters from that room and was an eyewitness to when nylon bags were placed on the detainees and electricity was applied to different parts of their bodies, as well as being able to hear the screams of pain resulting from the same. Although he states that at that time it was difficult to memorize the faces of the detainees because they shaved them, he memorized the faces of the indicated victims because when entering the torture room they were blindfolded, but upon leaving they did so without a blindfold, which is why he was able to recognize them perfectly, as recorded in his statements from fs. 3 to fs. 4, from fs. 35 to fs. 38, from fs. 93 to fs. 95, all from the secret case file of this cause.

U.-

That days after the events described in the preceding paragraph, the conscript with the initials M.J.C.S. had to load a military truck with the bodies of deceased persons from the shooting range of Isla Cautín on two occasions.

On the first occasion, he loaded 10 bodies, all male, whose ages fluctuated between 25 and 30 years old; while on the second occasion, he loaded 8 bodies, also male, but on this occasion, they were younger people than in the previous case.

Present at the scene, among others, were some conscripts from his company, among whom he remembers José Chávez Etchepare and Luis Valeria Candia (deceased, as recorded at fs. 3,505, volume X and fs. 3,502, volume X).

Although it was night, with the light of the vehicles he could observe that they were indeed young people, who presented multiple bullet impacts, one of them even presented a bullet impact in the head, adding that almost all of them had their hands tied and their faces uncovered, being able to recognize according to the photographs from fs. 5 to 7 of the secret file, that of these 8 bodies, 3 corresponded to Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, and the brothers Hugo and Elías González Ortega, as recorded in his statements from fs. 3 to fs. 4, from fs. 35 to fs. 38, from fs. 93 to fs. 95, all from the secret case file of this cause. It is noted that this secret witness with the initials M.J.C.S. underwent an expert assessment of his mental faculties, which indicated that he is a lucid person, oriented in time and space; normal psychomotricity; without productive symptomatology at the time of the assessment; without alterations in the course or content of thought or language. Notificative language, of good quality; Euthymic, with adequate affective resonance. No anxious or depressive symptomatology is noted; in performance tests, preserved memory is noted. He possesses a good capacity for abstraction. In short, the expert report concluded that he is a man without alteration of reality judgment, with an intellectual level that clinically is in the normal range and has all his higher cortical functions preserved. Psychiatric expert report that is on fs. 180 to fs. 183, of the secret case file.

V.-

That after which, and on both occasions, the truck left in the direction of the Allipén bridge, he remaining along with the conscripts of his company in the Regiment, and the personnel of the Second Hunters Company took charge of the transfer of the corpses to the aforementioned river.

That this conscript was later able to confirm that the Allipén bridge was the final destination of these bodies, where they were thrown into its waters, since the conscript Luis Valeria Candia (deceased at fs. 3,502, volume X), boasting about these events, told him about the situation, as recorded from fs. 3 to fs. 4 and from fs. 35 to fs. 37 of the secret file.

W.-

That in this sense, days after September 11, 1973, in circumstances where Rubén Ernesto Sandoval Muñoz, a civilian who was dedicated to recreational fishing in the Toltén River, between the Pitrufquén - Faja Maisan stretch, was carrying out this activity along with José Tomás Palazuelos, he found around 12 bodies in different sectors, all male, being able to remember that 4 of these corpses were older people and the rest corresponded to very young people.

That among the bodies he visualized in the river, the one of a young man caught his special attention, which was stranded in a break in the river between the bajada de piedra and chesta sector, and presented a perforation on the right side of his skull; causing him the impression that it was the product of a gunshot.

He remembers that on his body, in the sand, were his identity documents, which indicated the word Villarrica, not being able to distinguish his name. That the clothing of this young man corresponded to a jacket, jeans, and sneakers.

He did not notice if he presented other wounds, since out of fear he preferred to leave the place; however, he reported the discovery of the corpses to the Carabineros officer Lukowiak (Sub-officer Major who at that time belonged to the staff of the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén), however, he threatened him, which is why he did not report the fact at the time.

That upon the exhibition of photographs by this court, Rubén Sandoval Muñoz stated that indeed the young man he saw in the river was Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, since his image remained very marked in his mind, mainly due to the shape of his nose, which was very wide, so he looked like a boxer, facts that are recorded at fs. 2,156, volume VII, fs. 2,645, volume VIII, and fs. 2,305, volume VII.

X.-

That likewise, Juan Esteban Ortiz Parra, a boatman at that time, states that days after September 11, 1973, he found a large number of bodies floating in the waters of the Toltén River, and others stranded on the riverbank near the Galpones sector of the commune of Pitrufquén, paying particular attention to one of them.

The above, because it was a very young person and he thought it could be someone he knew, which is why he proceeded to check him, immediately realizing that this was not the case, since among his clothing he found a paper from a school in Villarrica and managed to distinguish that his surname was Aguayo; noting that the body of this young man presented a perforation in the back of his skull, his hands were tied with barbed wire, he was wearing blue jeans and a sweater.

That regarding his physical characteristics, apparently, he did not exceed 15 or 16 years of age, he was of short stature, not being able to specify more characteristics because the body was very beaten due to the action of the rocks. That other boatmen also saw the bodies, mentioning among them, precisely Rubén Sandoval, as recorded at fs. 2,154, volume VI.

Y.-

That finally, after the detention of September 13, 1973, the victims' relatives never again had news about Hugo Arner González Ortega, Elías Dagoberto González Ortega, Carlos Schmidt Arriagada, Ricardo Augusto Schmidt Arriagada, Juan de Dios Cabrera Figueroa, Alejandro Escobar Vásquez, Héctor Domingo Aguayo Olavarría, and Raúl Marcial Figueroa Burckhardt, which is why they began a fruitless search in the different detention centers that housed political prisoners at that time; for example, the family of Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, after learning from Luis Díaz and Esteban Díaz that Héctor was detained inside the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, went immediately to this place, where his detention was denied. The same happened when they asked for him at the Villarrica Police Station. Later, and due to the political persecution that the family suffered, the mother of Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, along with his brothers and sisters, decided to emigrate to Argentina; however, Héctor's father remained in Curarrehue in search of his son, where he passed away without finding him.

Z.-

That at present, only the account existing in the Museum of Memory and Human Rights remains, which gives an account of the disappearance of these young men after the detention of September 13, 1973; it being possible to verify until now, as has been said, that indeed, according to what was related, the victims were detained, outside of any judicial process, in the Río Turbio bridge sector, near the fork in the road that leads toward the town of Caburgua and the commune of Curarrehue by Luis Robinson Bustos Letelier, Carabineros Captain, chief of the Pucón Sub-station, to immediately be transferred to said Police unit, then taken as detainees to the facilities of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, momentarily released, to then be apprehended again; and on this occasion, pressured and tortured inside the same Regiment. And as stated, for reasons not clarified in the case file, transferred to the public jail of the city of Temuco, to finally return in the same status to the facilities of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, since as the witness with the initials M.J.C.S. describes, when he had to load 8 bodies of deceased persons from the shooting range of Isla Cautín, he recognized Héctor Aguayo Olavarría, Hugo Arner González Ortega, and Elías Dagoberto González Ortega, at least 3 of the 8 victims of the case. The dynamic of detaining, granting freedom, and then re-apprehending the same people, to enter them again as political detainees, was a habitual practice used by state agents.”

Ad-hoc Prosecutor

Likewise, the resolution states: “That the aforementioned facts must have been known by the officers in command of the Headquarters and Services Company of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, among them, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichauer Salcedo, and Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz, to which this conscript with the initials M.J.C.S. belonged.

And as detailed in numeral 37 of this resolution, Mr. Alfonso Podlech Michaud acted from September 11, 1973, as legal advisor and Ad-hoc Military Prosecutor of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, interrogating the detainees and deciding the fate of the people deprived of liberty, having on that date the decision-making and command powers inside the facilities of the aforementioned Regiment.

Likewise, and as detailed in numeral 51, in relation to what was stated by the Spanish citizen Francisco Jerónimo Matta Aro, the facts were known by the lawyer Alfonso Podlech Michaud, since according to what Mr.

Matta stated to his son, it was Mr. Podlech who ordered Héctor Aguayo, along with another person, to remain in the Prosecutor's Office as they would be interrogated. In this sense, in his capacity as Ad-hoc Prosecutor and Legal Advisor to the Military Prosecutor's Office, he did not report or inform the military superiority or any other authority of the investigated illicit acts, nor is there any record that an investigation was carried out, nor the existence of a register as a consequence of the commission of these facts.”

“Such were the powers –it continues– that this lawyer had that the very words of the Chief of the Guard of the public jail of Temuco, for October 1973, in his statement from fs. 4,195 to fs. 4,196, volume XII, stated that, given the overcrowding after September 11, 1973, he went to speak with the person in charge of the military prosecutor's office, alluding to the aforementioned lawyer, who ‘normalized the situation.’ A consequence of what was previously exposed are the multiple assertions that have been made by members who performed functions inside the Regiment at the time of the investigated events, namely: statements by Aquiles Poblete Muller (deceased, as recorded at fs. 4,147, volume XII), a retired Commissioner of the Investigations Police of Chile, in his statement at fs. 3,665, volume X, expressed that ‘the great person responsible for all this and who decided the fate of the detainees is the lawyer Alfonso Podlech, who was in charge of the military prosecutor's office.’ In this same order of ideas, it is relevant to keep in mind what was explained by the First Sergeant of the Tucapel Regiment, José Heriberto Mansilla Gatica, who in his judicial statement at fs. 3,809, volume XI, pointed out: ‘… by September 1973, the second commander of the Regiment with the surname Jofré did not take statements. Iturriaga Marchesse only dealt with general things. The daily work of the prosecutor's office, such as interrogating, making decisions regarding the detainees, was Alfonso Podlech's.’”

For the visiting minister, in this case: “Likewise, and to reinforce what was stated ut-supra, it is of utmost importance to mention the document that is on fs. 4,156, volume XII, which gives an account of a release order for two people, dated September 28, 1973, issued by the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco and signed by the lawyer and ad-hoc military prosecutor in question, that in relation to what is concluded in the documentary expert report on fs. 4,157 to fs. 4,185, volume XII, issued by the Central Criminalistics Laboratory of the Investigations Police of Chile, which among other things expresses the following: ‘the antecedents examined on this occasion authorize establishing that the impugned signature traced over the text that indicates FISCAL, in the ‘LIBERTAT’ (RELEASE) order No. S/N, of the Cautín Temuco Military Prosecutor's Office, dated September 28, 1973, addressed to the Carabineros of Chile, Villarrica Sub-station, which orders the release of Mario Fernando Cortés Bornard and Ubildo Antonio Jiménez Vargas, is Genuine of Óscar Alfonso Podlech Michaud’,” which is likewise directly linked to the documentary expert report prepared by the Central Criminalistics Laboratory of the Investigations Police of Chile, on fs. 4,186 to fs. 4,192, volume XII, in that it concludes the following: “the evaluation of the antecedents examined on this occasion allows establishing that the impugned signature, subscribed over the text Luis A. Jofré Soto Mayor Fiscal, in the copy of authorization dated in Temuco on 18.DEC.1973, addressed to doctor Wolfgang REUTER, Regional Hospital, issued by the Cautín - Temuco Military Prosecutor's Office of the Chilean Army, is genuine of Óscar Alfonso Podlech Michaud.” The previously expressed corroborates the responsibility in these facts of the aforementioned legal advisor and Ad-hoc Military Prosecutor.

“That to date, no public official of the Chilean Army or of any other branch of the Armed Forces and/or Order and Security who served at the time of the events has provided any information to the respective authority in relation to what happened to Hugo Arner González Ortega, Elías Dagoberto González Ortega, Juan Carlos Schmidt Arriagada, Ricardo Schmidt Arriagada, Juan de Dios Cabrera Figueroa, Alejandro Escobar Vásquez, Héctor Domingo Aguayo Olavarría, and Raúl Marcial Figueroa Burckhardt, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of information about their whereabouts,” he concludes.

Source: pjud.cl, November 8, 2022

Case File 4.473: Pucón Case - crime against humanity of kidnapping with serious injury of 8 young men

For these considerations, and having seen the provisions of articles 424 and 425 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, IT IS DECLARED that this case is elevated to PLENARY and INDICTMENT is filed against:

1.- Luis Robinson Bustos Letelier, as PERPETRATOR of the crimes of illegal detention, in their character as a crime against humanity, against Hugo Arner González Ortega, Elías Dagoberto González Ortega, Carlos Schmidt Arriagada, Ricardo Schmidt Arriagada, Juan de Dios Cabrera Figueroa, Alejandro Escobar Vásquez, Héctor Domingo Aguayo Olavarría, and Raúl Marcial Figueroa Burckhardt, an illicit act perpetrated in the commune of Pucón on September 13, 1973.

2.- Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichauer Salcedo, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, and Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz; as ACCOMPLICES of the crimes of kidnapping with serious injury, in their character as a crime against humanity, against Hugo Arner González Ortega, Elías Dagoberto González Ortega, Carlos Schmidt Arriagada, Ricardo Schmidt Arriagada, Juan de Dios Cabrera Figueroa, Alejandro Escobar Vásquez, Héctor Domingo Aguayo Olavarría, and Raúl Marcial Figueroa Burckhardt, an illicit act that occurred between late September and early October 1973.

Source: Judiciary, November 4, 2022