Argentina: March to demand the release of Milagro Sala, five years after her detention

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Five years after his arrest, various social organizations organized a march to demand his freedom. The former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales sent his solidarity to the leader. This Saturday there will be several mobilizations in the province and in the City of Buenos Aires, where a march will be held in front of the Courthouse with the purpose of protesting before the Supreme Court about the legal situation that the leader is going through. The activities in protest of the leader of the organization Tupac Amaru began on Wednesday with an open letter signed by officials, political leaders and social, cultural and human rights referents Meanwhile, in Jujuy, provincial human rights agencies and organizations today repudiated the excessive and disproportionate police operation deployed in the province on the occasion of this anniversary. This operation is one more example of the process of repression, criminalization and judicialization of social protest that we have been denouncing since December 2015, the signers of the statement stressed. They also added that both the National Constitution and that of the province of Jujuy guarantee the right to social protest and to dissent and to express themselves publicly against any measure that a government may take; indeed, these rights constitute the basis of our democracy. In the same way, the organizations hold the government of Gerardo Morales responsible for any repressive or violent situation that could arise in the framework of the protest. We inform that we have presented a Preventive Habeas Corpus with the aim of guaranteeing the legitimate exercise of the right of social protest,the text warned. For his part, the former president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Evo Morales Ayma, today expressed his solidarity with the head of the social organization Tupac Amaru, Milagro Sala, on the five-year anniversary of her detention in Jujuy and considered that the leader was condemned unjustly to 13 years in prison for fighting for the poor and for the indigenous of Argentina. Our solidarity with Sister Milagro Sala, who has been unjustly sentenced to 13 years in prison, for fighting for a better life for the poor and for the indigenous people of her country, said the leader of the Movement to Socialism (MAS) in a message posted through your Twitter account. Morales added: We hope this situation will be reversed and we wish him great strength in these difficult times. Also the Minister of Women, Gender and Diversity, Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta spoke about the illegitimate detention of Milagro. Gómez Alcorta was a member of Sala's team of defense lawyers. Operational anniversary Governor Gerardo Morales ordered an excessive operation for the march scheduled for this afternoon in Jujuy. The operation is commanded by retired Major Luis Alberto Martín, from the Gendarmerie. Martin is also in the security ministry and works with security minister Guillermo Corro. The leaders of the Tupac denounced that despite being retired, he continues to give orders to the gendarmerie The operation includes firefighters with bomb dogs and Perico's cavalry, and the police were alerted to prevent the passage from San Pedro. On the other hand, the group was informed that the Quiaca Infantry was among the forces. On Saturday, January 16, 2016, Sala was arrested for participating in a camp in front of the Government House of Jujuy, in protest against measures taken by the radical governor of Juntos por el Cambio, Gerardo Morales, who had just over a month to in front of the provincial Executive. Although Sala was dismissed for that cause, today she continues in house arrest and accumulates a total of six trials and two convictions for crimes related to the administration of funds to build social housing, none of which is firm.