Global Courant
The prosecutor’s office in charge of the investigation of the cause known as the “Monte Massacre”, in which four young people died in 2019 while being shot at by the police, requested this Friday life sentences and 20 years in prison. for the four agents from the province of Buenos Aires found guilty.
After the cesura hearing, Judge Carolina Crispiani, in charge of the Oral Criminal Court 4 (TOC) of La Plata, went to an intermediate room until Thursday, June 9 at noon, when the sentence will be known.
Prosecutor Mariano Sibuet requested a life sentence for police officers Rubén García and Leonardo Ecilapé.
Both had already been unanimously found guilty by the 12 popular juries as co-authors of the crime of “aggravated homicide due to abuse of police function and for being committed through the use of a firearm” to the detriment of Danilo Sansone (13), Camila López (13), Gonzalo Domínguez (14) and Aníbal Suárez (22).
Meanwhile, the representative of the Public Ministry requested 20 years in prison for the officers Manuel Monreal and Mariano Ibáñez, found guilty of the crime of “attempted homicide aggravated by the abuse of the police function and for being committed through the use of a firearm”. from the same victims.
In his plea, Sibuet took as aggravating factors the “social impact” from the acts committed by members of a security force and valued the testimonies of the psychologists who previously testified.
“They mention three elements that I must assess: that the event was devastating, that they caused irreparable damage and that this damage for each of the victims and the families involved means damage for life,” he explained.
In addition, the prosecutor criticized the “action taken after the commission of the act in that attempt to evade the action of justice” by the defendants.
Later, the lawyers Margarita Jarque and Luz Santos Morón of the Provincial Commission for Memory (CPM), which represent the families of the victims Danilo Sansone and Camila López, emphasized that there was a “serious violation of human rights” and in the “extent of the damage caused”, for which reason he adhered to the position of the prosecution.
In turn, the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), represented by the lawyers Bárbara Juárez and Agustina Lloret, requested life imprisonment for García and Ecilapé, and also 20 years for their companions.
“They had to protect them instead of attacking them, it translates into a betrayal on the part of the perpetrator and a greater defenselessness of the victim against the attack of those who take advantage of the situation to commit the crime,” said one of the lawyers.
Meanwhile, the lawyer Dora Bernárdez, representative of the families of Aníbal Suárez and Gonzalo Domínguez, agreed with the prosecutor and stated: “Confidence in the entire police institution was lost, confidence in the institution was broken to pieces, they shattered the tranquility “.
“Now they identify us. Are you from Monte? Ah, you’re from where the massacre was,” he exemplified and, in adhering to Sibuet’s proposal, said: “The relatives have been sentenced to the penalty of perpetual tragedy.”
While Ricardo Minoli, who sponsors the only survivor, Rocío Quagliarello, now 17, also referred to the “extent of damage and danger caused in their condition as members of a security force, due to the nature of the action and the means used”, for which reason he adhered to what was requested by the prosecutor.
On the other hand, the defenders María Celeste Baqué and Luis María Giordano, who represent the police officers Ibáñez, Monreal and García; and Marcelo Di Siervi, a lawyer from Ecilape, criticized the request for “perpetual imprisonment”, which they called “anachronistic” and one of them requested the annulment of the trial.
“I am outraged by everything that the accusing bloc said, except for Dr. Sibuet and Minoli, they talked about anything. This is going to be reversed in Cassation, it is an injustice. Ecilapé did not kill anyone, he should have been found not guilty. I am going to request that the nullity of the trial be decreed and a new one be ordered,” said Di Siervi.
At the end of the presentations, the four policemen said their “last words” and denied “being violators of human rights” and “murderers”, and insisted on blaming the driver of the car.
“I love life, I have no contempt for life, in any case, if someone had contempt, it was the one who was driving,” said Ibáñez.
In turn, Monreal affirmed that he was “at the disposal of Justice from day zero”, that “a criminal flees from being locked up” and that they acted “under duty” that they had.
“It was a tragedy for everyone and there is no turning back, but we are not criminals or murderers,” said the policeman, while Ecilapé criticized “the associations that are taking advantage of this case for their own benefit.”
How was the “Monte Massacre”
The “Monte Massacre” occurred in the early morning of May 20, 2019, when the Fiat 147 car in which the victims were driving hit the Route 3 collector against a trailer of a truck, after a pursuit of shots by from the police.
The Fiat 147 began to be pursued by a first police vehicle in which García and Ecilapé were circulating and in a lock operation another mobile was added in which Monreal and Ibáñez were.
As determined in the debate, Ibáñez was the one who was driving a police vehicle and crossed the path of the car in which the victims were traveling at the intersection of Chubut and Caseros streets, where Monreal fired a shot with his 9-millimeter pistol that wounded in the pelvis to Domínguez, but the Fiat 147 continued with the escape towards the collector of route 3, pursued by the other patrol car, in which García and Ecilapé were circulating.
At that moment, a second sequence began in which the patrolman commanded by Ecilapé chases the car that ends up hitting the trailer of a truck that was stopped, where the four young people died.
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