Chirino case: for Justice, the Army ritual that ended in death was "reckless"

For the federal judge of Paso de los Libres, Gustavo Fresneda, the death of artillery second lieutenant Matías Chirino during a ritual of initiation into military life was an

.

That is why he ordered nine Army officers to prosecute for the crime of manslaughter, and not for simple manslaughter as the prosecutor in the case and the victim's family claimed.

Fresneda's resolution was known this Monday and fell on Captain Claudio Andrés Luna (35), Captain Rubén Darío Ruiz (35), Captain Hugo Reclus Martínez Tarraga (34), Lieutenant Darío Emmanuel Martínez (31), Lieutenant Exequiel Emmanuel Aguilar (31), Lieutenant Franco Damián Grupico (26), Second Lieutenant Facundo Luis Acosta (26), Second Lieutenant Gerardo Sebastián Bautista (31) and Second Lieutenant Claudia Daniela Cayata (34).

The prosecution is without preventive detention and the embargo on each one amounts to 500,000 pesos.

Almost nine months after Chirino's death in the Monte 3 Artillery Group in Paso de los Libres, Corrientes, Judge Fresneda considered that the nine superiors committed the crimes of manslaughter and abuse of

.

Cut short life.

Chirino died in an initiation ritual of his life in an Army barracks, in Paso de los Libres.

"At no time is it noted that none of the defendants had the intention or intention of ending the life of Chirino, Chaile or Meza, nor did they imagine the possibility of their death," the judge said when resolving the prosecution of the military involved in the "baptism" of the new second lieutenants.

"The defendants...

with respect to the second lieutenants, specifically in what is being analyzed here, with respect to Matías Ezequiel Chirino, having allowed that within the institution of the Army Argentinian, in which they perform functions, drink excessively until they lose consciousness, subject them to degrading treatment for anyone, and then leave him in his room, lying on a mattress, knowing that he was in a drunken state and being foreseeable

, leaving the place, some to their rooms, others leaving the barracks, others going to drink in another place or to dance, without any concern, thus failing to comply with the duty of care that the situation required,” Fresneda said

.

March in Holmberg, Córdoba, for the death of Army second lieutenant Matías Ezequiel Chirino (22).

Chirino, Chaile and Meza were forced to show up two days ahead of schedule.

The document indicated that they had to arrive at the military unit on Monday, June 20 at 7:30, but the senior officers

at which they were supposed to be honored. .

It was Second Lieutenant Facundo Luis Acosta who set up a WhatsApp group and “suggested” they show up on Saturday so as not to start their military career

.

Chirino paid for the barbecue, but he also had to buy top-brand wine, fernet, whiskey and cigarettes.

That night they were forced to

and other ill-treatment, such as drinking salted wine.

For Fresneda, the nine defendants "gave arbitrary orders and mistreatment" towards the three new officers.

"With an empty stomach, they

, extending their glasses, one of them containing wine with plenty of salt, under the order 'take, drink' causing them to lose consciousness," the judge said in his resolution.

Ezequiel Chirino (52), with a photo of his son Matías (22), the Army second lieutenant who died during an initiation ritual.

Photo Mara Resio

To avoid being filmed, the ill-treatment was recorded, the three second lieutenants had to leave their cell phones on a table in the casino, where the "welcome party" took place.

After midnight, Chirino, Chaile and Meza were taken to a room in the Officers' Casino to spend the night.

There, at 6:09 a.m., duty officer Franco Grupico warned that Matías was in poor condition.

That is why he requested the presence of the nurse Clara Fernández, to whom he told that one of the new officers "had exceeded alcohol."

The autopsy revealed that the young man from Cordoba

And that he had 1.45 grams of alcohol in his blood at that time of the morning.

The officer who collaborated with the investigation, Claudia Cayata, sought to disassociate herself from the fact and in her inquiry said that she went to the Casino that night "because I remembered how my reception was a year ago, in June 2021 and since I had not liked it what I went through at that moment, I didn't want them to go through the same thing."

Enrique Novo, the plaintiff lawyer, maintained that the Chirino family "is satisfied with the investigation of the facts" because "the abusive, illegal and sadistic conduct carried out by the defendants was reliably proven."

For Novo, the resolution is an "affront" to the Chirino family, which "adds to the initial inaction, the delay in providing the evidentiary measures and the delay in ruling on the procedural situation of the accused."

And they said that

so that it is reviewed by the Federal Chamber of Corrientes and even the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation

Missions.

Correspondent

MG

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