MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Milagro Sala gets 3-year suspended sentence but remains in preventive custody on other charges
”...we have dignified thousands of compañeros (comrades),” said Sala after hearing her sentence. Tupac Amaru group leader Milagro Sala was handed Wednesday a 3-year jail sentence by a Federal court in Jujuy for aggravated damage during an “escrache” protest against then national Senator Gerardo Morales in 2009 at the Professional Council of Economic Sciences in the provincial capital San Salvador de Jujuy. Sala also benefitted from a statute of limitations which rendered the threat charges void. Morales is now Governor of Jujuy.
Judges Mario Juárez Almaraz, María Alejandra Cataldi and Fernando Díaz also sentenced Sala's acolytes Graciela López and Ramón Salvatierra to 3 and 2 years in prison respectively, after finding them too guilty of causing aggravated damages in the aforementioned event.
When given the right to speak, Salas addressed the judges and asked them not to be guided by political power. She added that ”I feel a lot of pain for the injustice we are living because we have not stolen anything, we have worked and we have dignified thousands of compañeros (comrades).“
”That was our sin. We only wanted equality in a rich country like this,” she explained. To many, including the United Nations, Sala is a social leader and a political prisoner, but also to many she is nothing but the non-government arm of former President Cristina Fernandez' corruption ring.
Sala's organization built houses for the poor with national government funds channeled through then Welfare Minister Alicia Kirchner, now governor of Santa Cruz, (sister of the late president Nestor Kirchner's and therefore sister-in-law of the incumbent president) on condition that the beneficiaries participated in political rallies and proved their allegiance to the “movement” in various manners.
“Dignifying those who have less meant that today I'm sitting on this chair,” Sala closed her statement.
A group of Tupac Amaru supporters, opposition Victory Front (FpV) lawmakers and human rights activists were seen at the courthouse to show Sala their endorsement to her actions.
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Read all comments@Enrique
Dec 29th, 2016 - 12:32 pm +8Why don't you tell us “the whole movie” of the current situation in Jujuy instead of just “an image”?
1) Sala received many millions of dollars in “cash” during the years of the last two Peronist presidents to “do works” in several Argentine provinces.
2) Jujuy was governed during that same period of time by Peronist Governors. As in Jujuy, most of the “traditional” Argentine provinces have “always” been ruled by Peronists. Take in example Salta where religious education is still mandatory (year 2017..)
3) Hard critics and violent fights arose between Salas and the Peronist governors for the discretionary use of the funds sent by the National Government (the previous ones)
4) Before the triumph of the current governor, the first “non-Peronist” in decades, she was warned that all funds of the National Government would be formally transferred (using the banking system) and all the subsidies would only be collected by the beneficiaries formally (improving their conditions). Sala refused to accept the formal banking subsidization (It would be interesting is you can explain to us the reasons why Sala refused to receive money through the banks).
5) Sala explicitly threatens the Province Governor to “set fire” the province of Jujuy in a clear offense of sedition against the constitutional order threatening the inner peace.
6) The Province of Jujuy is a independent Provincial State (exactly as in Canada) with its independent powers, its Provincial Constitution with its separate independent powers and, most importantly, separated from the Federal Government.
7) She, and some of her “partners” were formally accused of several crimes. This is the first conviction of several cases where the processed, Sala, had her lawyers and rights guaranteed. In this first case, Sala, was found guilty of only one cause of several in which she was charged by the official prosecutor. The penalty is lower than requested by the official prosecutor..
”Sala's organization built houses for the poor with national government funds channeled through then Welfare Minister Alicia Kirchner, now governor of Santa Cruz, (sister of the late president Nestor Kirchner's and therefore sister-in-law of the incumbent president) on condition that the beneficiaries participated in political rallies and proved their allegiance to the “movement” in various manners“
Dec 29th, 2016 - 06:35 am +7Talk about corruption- government money used to compensate the poor as partisan political ”activists” for the K's !!!
That's corruption and misuse of government funds, Enrique!
L
Sala and others accepted public funding and housing to buy their votes and act as political activists for the K's and the Victory Party.
Dec 29th, 2016 - 06:54 am +7That is corruption = illegal
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