“We have to get this idea of ​​judicial war out of our heads”

The week was marked by the preventive detention of the mayor of Recoleta Daniel Jadue regarding the crimes that he is also accused of as head of the Chilean Association of Popular Pharmacies. From the Communist Party they have given support to the mayor and from the Government they have called for respect for the institutions and have denied the following thesis of the PC: Jadue is a victim of political persecution.

These definitions have generated distance between the PC and the Government. However, relations do not seem to strain, as the store leaders have chosen not to escalate the controversy. The Government, on the other hand, has not skimped on making its line clear with its ministers. This is to respect the institutions and even rule out the possibility that the trial against Jadue is about lawfare, That is, the judicial system is being used strategically to harm or weaken an opponent.

In an interview with La Tercera, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Luis Cordero, insisted that this idea is ruled out: “I think we have to get this idea of ​​judicial war or the lawfare.” He even explained that “if one wanted to take the methodological standards for that purpose, this is a case that does not apply. Here there are no political adversaries using a criminal investigation, here there is an investigation that the Public Ministry began, which has taken a while, that one may have agreements or disagreements about it, but calling it a judicial war is quite far from what, therefore less in the theoretical framework, it is understood as lawfare.”

When asked about the pressure that the PC would be exerting on the Judiciary, Cordero warned that the practice “It has become customary, and I say this not only for this case, to disqualify institutions when they decide in a way different from what is intends in politics.”

With this, the minister issued a warning: “Politics has to be extremely careful not to transform the Judiciary or the Public Ministry into political actors. It is not reasonable for politics to be judicialized nor for judges or prosecutors to be political actors. But for that not to happen, politics must not speculate or distort the interventions of judges and prosecutors.”

Now, regarding the debate on the proportionality of the precautionary measure on the mayor of Recoleta, he acknowledged that “everyone can have the opinion they want” and that this discussion is part of a legitimate disappointment. However, “to classify it as political persecution or political bias seems to me to be completely inappropriate in a democratic system, regardless of the authority that utters it,” the minister stated.

The Association of Magistrates announced that the measures adopted by the PC weaken the institutions, but Cordero refuses to believe that, “because the only way to weaken is if this has any consequences. One of the reasons why we recognize the independence of the Judiciary is precisely so that they do not feel intimidated.”