President Gabriel Boric supported the officials of the Investigative Police (PDI) this Wednesday and asked that “the mistake not be made of tarnishing the entire institution due to the irresponsibility of one person,” in reference to the accusation and arrest of his former director Sergio Muñoz.
“The great and vast majority of the police in our country are honest people, hard-working people, people who are permanently on the streets ensuring the safety of Chileans,” said the President at an official event.
On Tuesday, Justice decreed preventive detention against Muñoz, accused of having leaked confidential information in at least five judicial cases.
“The fact that, given the investigation being carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office and the forcefulness of the evidence, the preventive detention of the former director of the PDI has been decreed demonstrates a very important thing, that the institutions work,” said Boric.
As reported by the Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday during the indictment hearing, Muñoz conveyed compromising information to the lawyer Luis Hermosilla, one of the most influential in the country and the protagonist of another judicial case that is also being investigated, the so-called “Audio Case”, regarding irregular payments. to officials from the Internal Revenue Service (SII) and the Financial Market Commission (CMF) to obtain privileged information.
In addition, according to the Public Ministry, the former head of the PDI sent Hermosilla “photos of official reports” about the case that affects his predecessor in office, Héctor Espinosa, accused of embezzlement of public funds and money laundering and who left the office. PDI leadership cornered by this case.
Muñoz also leaked information related to the controversial Dominga case, about the construction of a mining megaproject in the Coquimbo Region that puts one of the most important ecosystems in the world at risk, and in which the late former president, Sebastián Piñera, was involved.
“He is completely sorry”
The investigation against Muñoz came to light on Friday, when the Prosecutor’s Office ordered the search of his house and office, two events that shocked the country and pushed the now former head of the PDI to resign hours later.
Muñoz’s defense, Juan Carlos Manríquez, said on Tuesday upon arrival at the hearing that his client “is completely remorseful” and that “he did not receive any payment” for the delivery of confidential information.
The investigation against Muñoz coincides with the security crisis that Chile is going through and with the case faced by the director of Carabineros, Ricardo Yáñez, for omission of illegitimate pressures resulting in serious injuries and homicide during the serious demonstrations of 2019.
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