Argentine Supreme Court rules Milagro Sala cannot be held in prison; move to house arrest ordered
The Argentine Supreme Court ruled today that social activist Milagro Sala cannot be held in prison, and must be returned to house arrest.
The indigenous rights activist and cooperative leader was unexpectedly transferred to prison on August 7 a week after being found unconscious in the halfway house she's been confined to for nearly a year.
The Supreme Court cited a July 28, 2017, ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), which had argued Sala's already poor health could worsen should she remain imprisoned.
This is the second such ruling since December 5, when the Court enjoined Jujuy Province Governor Gerardo Morales, a longtime political enemy of Sala’s, to abide by IACHR rulings - which are legally binding in Argentina.
Sala had been acquitted of all criminal charges, filed by Morales appointees, on December 7 - after which new charges were promptly filed, albeit without evidence.
The Sala case
Sala, 54, has been in prison since her arrest on January 16, 2016, for “instigating criminal activity and disorder” after setting up camp in front of the provincial government building protesting a decree defunding her neighborhood association, Tupac Amaru.
Morales is a close ally of the right-wing administration of President Mauricio Macri, whom Amnesty International criticized in its latest annual review for attacks on indigenous peoples, including at least two deaths, and the use of arbitrary detention.
Although she was cleared of the initial charges a few days after the events took place, Sala has remained in custody since. Further accusations of fraud and extortion were brought against her while she was in prison due to the original charges.
Provincial prosecutors have provided no evidence in nearly two years, however, and both the IACHR and the UN consider her two-year detention to be arbitrary. Amnesty International considers Sala a political prisoner.
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Argentine political prisoner Milagro Sala
