Following the IACHR's ruling, Argentine political prisoner Milagro Sala to be granted house arrest
Argentine indigenous activist Milagro Sala, whose imprisonment without charges 19 months ago has been ruled arbitrary by numerous international bodies, has been granted a transfer to house arrest by the government of Jujuy Province.
The decision comes days after a July 28 ruling by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ordered Argentina to respond promptly to a formal request by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for Milagro Sala's immediate release.
Imprisoned without charges in January 2016 on orders from Jujuy Province Governor Gerardo Morales, Sala, 53, remains in prison on "illicit association" charges over a 2009 egg-lobbing incident against Morales which has not been linked to Sala and in which there were no injuries.
Citing lack of evidence and serious irregularities such as the use of bribed witnesses, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled on October 21 that Sala's detention is in fact arbitrary, and urged Argentine President Mauricio Macri (a close ally of Morales) to release her immediately.
Crtitics noted that Macri ally José Potocar, the disgraced Buenos Aires police chief indicted on bribery and extortion charges, was granted house arrest yesterday after just 3 months in prison.
Sala's defense attorney, Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, noted that the ruling by the IACHR - to which Argentina is a signatory - "leaves no room for the Government not to comply: it must comply and respect Sala's rights under the laws governing pre-trial detention."
Calls for her release by the OAS, the IACHR, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and other human rights organizations intensified after Sala reported mistreatment on May 14.
The report stated that her fellow Tupac Amaru colleagues at the prison - all women - have suffered repeated beatings, have sustained fractures, and vomit blood. They, according to Sala, "often scream at night to plead for a stop to the torture."
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ambito.com%2F891895-tras-fallo-de-la-cidh-darian-prision-domiciliaria-a-milagro-sala&edit-text=
Milagro Sala and Pope Francis in happier days
