Case File 113.075: case of illegitimate coercion against students from Temuco

22.- Testimony of Delberto Atanasio Esparza Lillo , on page 254, CNI agent in Temuco as of January 1986, whose operational name was "Jhony Riderman," who stated that his function in Temuco was to work on union issues and the entry of external agents arriving from the border.

He added that the head of the unit in Temuco at the time the events occurred was Captain Acuña Morelli or Captain Jorge Palacio Mery . He indicated that the entire barracks participated in the operation and that personnel from the Valdivia unit were also deployed.

He added that the day prior to the event, agent Carlos Lagos Fuentes detained a young man in Lautaro and that, as a result of this, the operation was planned for the following day. He said that activities began at 06:00 hours when they moved to the "El Rocío" sector of the commune of Lautaro, a place where there was a forest, and proceeded to detain the young people, who were blindfolded and handcuffed, transporting them in several trips to the barracks located on Calle Miraflores in Temuco , where they were left in the mess hall.

He added that there were men and women. He said that he assumes that the head of the Unit participated in the interrogations, along with agents Erasmo Bravo , an intelligence expert; Servando Voisier , knowledgeable in Mapuche issues; and Roberto Sandoval , who had knowledge regarding university students.

Given the time elapsed, although in his extrajudicial statement he said that personnel came from Santiago to interrogate the detainees and take charge of their custody, he later claimed not to remember whether or not personnel from Santiago came as a result of this event.

Regarding the weaponry found in the hands of the detainees, he stated that he did not remember seeing such weapons at the scene of the event, nor having gone to raid the home of one of them where weaponry was discovered.

28.- Testimony of Carlos Enrique Lagos Fuentes , on page 281, CNI agent in January 1986 in Temuco, whose operational name was " Jorge Gutiérrez ," who stated that it was his responsibility to participate in the detention of a group of young people who were part of a guerrilla school in the rural sector of Lautaro.

On that occasion, he drove a utility van in which he transported the CNI personnel from Temuco. Likewise, he remembers that they were guided to the place by a young man with the surname Cárdenas who had been detained a day earlier.

In that place, he also saw Lieutenant Ovalle Lyon , whose operational name was " Ilabaca ." He pointed out that the detained persons were transported to the CNI barracks located on Calle Miraflores , where they were kept for a few days, after which they were handed over to the Military Prosecutor's Office of this city.

He asserted that he did not find weaponry at the place where the guerrilla school was based, but that in a subsequent operation, an arsenal was found in the house of one of the detainees, whose surname was Barahona.

This procedure was carried out by personnel from Valdivia. He said that the head of the CNI in Temuco at that time was Major Jorge Palacios or Juan Pérez Cadenasso , who was seconded by a Lieutenant. He asserted that he did not have access to the place where the detainees were held while they remained in the CNI barracks and does not remember who participated in the interrogations.

Source: Judiciary, October 30, 2009