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In a shocking turn, the Director of the Investigative Police (PDI) of Chile, Sergio Muñoz, presented his resignation on Friday night, after the announcement that he would be formalized by the Prosecutor’s Office for leaking confidential information in relation to the case of the controversial audios that implicate the lawyer Luis Hermosilla.
Muñoz informed President Gabriel Boric of his decision during a meeting at the offices of La Moneda, where he announced his resignation and announced that Prefect General Claudio González Hofstetter would take over as interim director, this being the official with the second most seniority in the institution, according to stipulates the Organic Law of the PDI.
Muñoz’s resignation, although surprising, was not seen as a decision of the Government, as clarified by the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, who confirmed that Muñoz had made the determination himself. Monsalve reiterated the Government’s position of not intervening in this decision, emphasizing that it was a personal action by the former director of the PDI.
President Boric now faces the task of selecting the new director general from among the eight most senior officials within the PDI.
The scandal surrounding Muñoz’s resignation has its origins in the audio case, a case of enormous political relevance that has shaken the country in recent months. This Friday, the Assets and Corruption Unit of the Carabineros OS7 carried out simultaneous raids on Muñoz’s residence and office, as part of the ongoing investigation.
These raids, requested by the Eastern Prosecutor’s Office, were carried out within the framework of the investigation of the audio case, which arose after the analysis of Luis Hermosilla’s cell phone. The information obtained from this device directly implicated the Director General of the PDI in alleged crimes, which led the Prosecutor’s Office to request a date and time to formalize Sergio Muñoz for violation of Law 19,913 and the Penal Code.
The formalization hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday the 19th, and is expected to shed light on this complicated case that has shocked Chilean public opinion.
We can say that the resignation of Sergio Muñoz as Director of the PDI marks a crucial moment in the midst of a judicial scandal that calls into question the integrity of one of the most important institutions in the country.