Neuquén police officer Sergio Palominos was sentenced to five years in prison for the crime of serious injuries doubly aggravated by his condition and abuse of a firearm, committed against the former provincial deputy of the Left Front (FIT) Raúl Godoy, during a union protest in 2017.
The Court made up of judges Mauricio Zavala, Fernando Zvilling and Gustavo Ravizzolli handed down the penalty unanimously.
Former legislator Raúl Godoy stated, upon leaving the Judicial City, that “after four years of rowing against the current, against the cover-up by the Police Headquarters, the political power, the Neuquino Popular Movement (MPN), it was achieved this effective prison sentence. “
“It is a step forward in this context in which the police kill kids in the neighborhoods every day,” he said, adding that “this shot at me was in the context of an eviction of workers who were fighting for their jobs; and if there is more adjustment, there will be struggle and resistance “.
For his part, the lawyer for the complaint, Mariano Pedrero, celebrated Palominos’ conviction, which he argued represents “a message against impunity.”
“We asked for 10 years, they gave it 5 but we still celebrate it because it is a message against impunity,” said the plaintiff lawyer.
His colleague Natalia Hormazábal assured that the ruling marks “a precedent, not only for what is to come, but for everything that has happened in a province that knows of repressions, of Teresa Rodríguez and Carlos Fuentealba, of all the kids who lost their lives for the easy trigger of the police. “
Last Thursday the hearing was held during which the Prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of 7 years in effective prison against the condemned police officer, the complaint 10 and the defense 3 years of conditional execution.
The attack on Godoy took place in December 2017 during a union protest of workers from Maderera “MAM” in Neuquén, repressed by the provincial police. Under these circumstances, Godoy, who at that time was occupying a seat in the Neuquén Legislature, was shot with his back to the police force, causing serious injuries to one of his legs.
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