“The Public Ministry appears Luis Alejandro Soto Pérez, Your Honor”. It was 11:45 in the morning last Monday, June 3, when the now questioned assistant lawyer of the Los Vilos Local Prosecutor’s Office appeared before the judge. Daniella Pinto, in the hearing to review the precautionary measures of alleged members of the Tren de Aragua, who are accused – among other crimes – of aggravated kidnapping.
That would be the beginning of the hearing that would end with four of the subjects with a modified precautionary measure, going from jail to total house arrest. Change in the precautionary measures that would have been generated -as indicated by the magistrate herself- after the assistant lawyer of the Public Ministry, and former Carabineros official, will not establish the reasons to keep the accused behind bars.
The appearance of the lawyer has not only caused the Public Prosecutor’s Office to open an administrative investigation to determine what happened at that hearing and whether the action protocols established by the Coquimbo Regional Prosecutor’s Office were followed, but also a criminal investigation against him. .
The national prosecutor, Angel Valenciaannounced this Friday morning the opening of that investigation, which begins “due to a complaint filed by the chief deputy prosecutor of the Los Vilos Local Prosecutor’s Office, Patricio Jory, against the assistant lawyer of that Prosecutor’s Office, Luis Alejandro Soto Pérezfor events that may constitute a crime that occurred in the hearing held on June 3 in the Guarantee Court of Los Vilos,” says the statement from the National Prosecutor’s Office.
Valencia assigned this criminal investigation to the regional prosecutor of Atacama, Alexis Rogat, who must determine if there were crimes – presumably obstruction of the investigation – in the actions of the Public Ministry lawyer, who has had that title since 2020.
The questions to the lawyer arise after during last Monday’s hearing he was unable to counterargue the foundations of the defenses of the defendants allegedly linked to the Aragua Train. Act that generated annoyance and objections, even from Judge Daniella Soto herself.
But who is the questioned lawyer? Luis Alejandro Soto Pérez (50) is one of the two assistant lawyers of the Los Vilos Local Prosecutor’s Office, which – in total – has four officials, among whom is the only prosecutor in the area, Patricio Jory.
Soto, a 50-year-old lawyer, is a native of the Maule Region, where he completed his high school studies, specifically in the commune of San Clemente. After that, according to sources Thirdhe joined the Carabineros, an institution to which he belonged until his retirement as a senior non-commissioned officer. In addition to his police career, Soto is a lawyer from the Central University, an institution from which he graduated in August 2020, according to the registry of lawyers of the Judiciary. After graduating, he practiced his profession independently with a specialty in family and criminal law.
His arrival at the Public Ministry It was on January 8, 2024, after winning a public contest. That is to say, he had been in the institution for five months on the date on which the questioned hearing occurred in which Judge Pinto called his attention for his actions when making allegations and which even caused him to report to the Public Ministry for that.
“You have to come with a finished study of the case and tell me what are the specific antecedents on which you can base this participation and why it is maintained to date, because the defenses are making precise and specific allegations and you do not tell me.” can make such general allegations in order to resolve. How do I pronounce it? Do I believe only you? I say, ‘it’s not that the prosecutor told me that everything was perfect, so I reject (the request) because according to him he has everything that justifies participation’, I cannot make a resolution of that type.”said the judge due to Soto’s lack of argument.
This Friday morning, in an interview with Radio Agricultura, the national prosecutor said that the assistant lawyer’s actions could be explained, even by having received threats. Valencia described everything that happened with the adjectives of “concern, self-criticism, indignation, shame. But also greater responsibility to try to determine what we can do better and try to repair what we have to repair.”
Along with that, the national prosecutor stated that “I would like it to be kept in mind that a person may have been a victim of threats, A person may have been the victim of different motivations for acting that way. Therefore, I beg you not to prejudge.”. Along these lines, Valencia also stated that, despite everything, “the court could have resolved differently.”
The criminal investigation announced this Friday by the National Prosecutor’s Office also considers – like any investigation – the protection of victims and witnesses, according to the agency’s own statement.
“What they We ask all prosecutors and all assistant lawyers, not only professionally, but also with patriotismis that in hearings of this nature, with such serious crimes, with such dangerous gangs, “Act with the greatest professionalism and the greatest dedication, the greatest thoroughness and the greatest responsibility,” concluded the national prosecutor, who also announced an investigation, now criminal, against the questioned assistant lawyer from the ranks of the persecuting institution.
