Carlos Maldonado on pardons: he says that in the October 18 cases "the political and social context" must be considered

At the headquarters of Congress in Santiago, presidents and leaders of ruling coalition parties and sectors close to the right gathered on Friday morning to present a joint declaration condemning the acts of violence that occurred in the context of the social uprising. The document, titled "Chile Without Violence: A Commitment Not to Go Backward," seeks to "call for unity around the defense of democracy, a cross-cutting condemnation of violence, and a commitment that Chile will never again live through the events of October 2019," according to its promoters. The event takes place on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the social uprising and amid pressure on President José Antonio Kast to send a signal to his electorate and announce presidential pardons for uniformed personnel convicted for acts committed during the uprising, considering that this was one of the commitments he made upon arriving at La Moneda. In this context, Carlos Maldonado, former Minister of Justice under Michelle Bachelet (2007-2010), who attended the ceremony, called for respecting the presidential power to grant pardons and for considering the "political and social" context in which the uniformed personnel were prosecuted. "My experience as Minister of Justice—and I am sure the current minister is doing the same work—is that each case is studied in depth to help inform the presidential decision on whether or not to grant each pardon," he said. Maldonado argued that during the period of the social uprising, "Carabineros de Chile and the Armed Forces defended democracy and the Rule of Law. They played a fundamental role in preserving the Chile we have today." In that sense, he claimed that "certain events occurred that warranted reproach and punishment by the courts." That said, he stressed that it is not up to the courts "to analyze the political and social context." "The government can do so in exercising the power of pardon. That is the difference between the judicial process and the analysis of a pardon request," he explained. Along those lines, he noted that "there were particular cases that deserved judicial reproach, and I am sure those particular cases are being analyzed very conscientiously by the Minister of Justice." With this, he argued that it is up to the governing parties to "support and respect the presidential power (...), whenever the President exercises it and whatever its scope may be." "The Armed Forces and Carabineros defended Chile and its democracy, and the particular cases will now have to be analyzed, above the judicial decision, bearing in mind the political and social context in which the events occurred," he stated.