Carlos Guajardo
08/09/2020 - 17:11
- Clarín.com
- Police
They claim that the prisoners traveled in an old bus. They carried a jerrycan with water from which everyone drank. And since they could not make any stops since they left Ezeiza, during the 20 hours of travel they all urinated in the same drum, without the possibility of washing their hands.
According to the sources consulted by Clarín , when they left for the Rawson prison a week ago "many of the inmates already had symptoms of Covid-19" and none of them were swabbed.
“ I have no explanation for what happened . There was no way to obtain any type of data, ”the province's Health Minister, Fabián Puratich, told this newspaper.
In total there were 20 prisoners who were transferred from the Ezeiza prison (two of them belong to Venado Tuerto), nine of whom tested positive for coronavirus last Thursday.
They were controlled by personnel from Unit 6 of Rawson, their final destination, and until now it is not known if they were fully protected as the protocols indicate.
According to judicial sources, the prisoners were isolated after swabs were carried out. But the jail does not have wards that are too far apart. What's worse: almost everyone communicates.
“The prisoners with Covid drank mate among themselves. They could see through the windows of their cells the playground of the other inmates ”, confided the investigators, who were also not aware of the transfer.
Due to building and population growth, the jail was now in the middle of the civic center of the city. Whoever arrives or leaves Rawson on Route 7 must pass yes or yes through its building where the guard booths and its high walls stand out.
Unit 6 has a capacity of 400 inmates. And between prisons and administrative staff more than 1,000 people work there. Suppliers and outsourced personnel who carry out different maintenance work are also received daily. 90 percent live in Rawson, a city that only had two positive cases of Covid-19 and has not had any for 3 months.
The municipal official Carlos Gazzera leaves the prison. Surprise and idignation in the Rawson / Jornada community
These transfers are common, but since the pandemic they have been suspended. Unit 6 houses dangerous prisoners and, above all, with long sentences. It is 1500 kilometers from the Federal Capital.
It is "far from everything" and that is why no prisoner wants to be transferred to serve his sentence in the company of the cold and wind in Patagonia. Today one of the most “famous” is the barrabrava of River Alan Schlenker, sentenced to life for being the instigator of the crime of the barrabrava Gonzalo Acro in 2007.
Alan Shlenker, doomed. Photo Emiliana Miguelez.
After saying that the unit looks like “a concentration camp”, he spoke of the transfers: “This did not have to happen. We are all exposed. This prison does not have isolated wards, they are all in the same area and with some communication. The isolation is partial and they had contact with other inmates, "he said in a report made by Channel 12 de Trelew.
The move also took Rawson's mayor, Damián Biss, by surprise. “I spoke with the head of the Unit and he was evasive. First that I did not know, then more or less. But this is a problem for us that during the entire time of the pandemic we demand that people have conduct. This creates unease and discomfort in our community, ”said Biss.
The Unit changed its director less than ten days ago. But nobody found out. In federal Justice they only know that "the last name is Álvarez." It is about the prefect Néstor Álvarez. He did not show up as protocol is customary. Nobody knows why. And that's why many only knew the surname. From now on they know that he is a prefect and his name is Nestor.
Rawson's Unit 6, the scene of a new controversy.
The next step for the Chubut and Rawson authorities is to try to prevent the virus from spreading. That it does not penetrate the thick walls of the Unit. And that none of the 9 infected inmates require care outside the prison. Because the "Santa Teresita" hospital is not prepared to receive too many infected with Coronavirus.
“They are mostly young. We hope we will not have major problems while they develop the coronavirus, "said Teresa Estrella, director of prevalent pathologies and infectology of the province. Minister Puratich was the most outraged: “I feel angry because a very strong job was done asking for care from society and this is a setback. Regardless of the blow that one feels, we must be stronger than ever ”.
This scandal does not end here. During the week, federal prosecutor Fernando Gélvez will take statements from several involved. Doctors, prison guards and prison authorities. The Legislature will request a report from the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, Santiago Cafiero, to find out the reasons for the transfer of the 20 prisoners and, above all, "who gave the order" and why "they did not communicate it," as he pointed out to this deputy Manuel Pagliaroni newspaper.
But there is more. Judicial sources trusted that the bus that transferred the infected did not return alone: he transferred 12 inmates who were in Unit 6. Of course, it is not known where. “They didn't even wash and disinfect it. And they left with the same drivers who also do custody. It can become another source of contagion ”.
Unit 6 added another chapter to its long history of riots, escapes and tragedies. She knew how to house “famous” prisoners. At least two of the “12 Apostles” who participated in the tragic Sierra Chica riot arrived here. Also Héctor “La Garza” Sosa, lieutenant of the greatest armored assailant Luis “El Gordo” Valor.
"La Garza" Sosa.
“I get up at 7 in the morning to go out to rob. It's not that easy, ”Sosa once told Clarín . Martín Espiasse Pugh, "The king of fugues", had his long stay. And also two members of the drug group "Los Monos", from Rosario.
The unit that also learned of stories of blood and fire, such as the escape of members of armed organizations on September 15, 1972, which led to the so-called “Trelew Massacre” a week later, is once again in the news. As it was in distant times. With the same mysteries, but without pandemics.
EMJ
