More than four years after the murder of Blas Correas, the judicial investigation analyzing the responsibilities after the crime has taken a decisive step. Anti-corruption prosecutor Franco Mondino called for the summons of 11 officials – including former security minister Alfonso Fernando Mosquera, police chiefs and agents – for alleged crimes committed in the hours and months after the murder on August 6, 2020 in the city of Córdoba.
The investigation began with an express order from the Eighth Criminal Chamber of Córdoba, which was included in the judgment convicting the police officers responsible for the murder and the first cover-up.
This verdict not only imposed penalties, but also opened the door to a second analysis: what other police officers and politicians did – or did not do – during the course of the case. After this part of the investigation was completed, Mondino decided to bring five matters to court and submit three additional files submitted by the court.
Authoritarians don’t like that
The practice of professional and critical journalism is a mainstay of democracy. That is why it bothers those who believe that they are the owners of the truth.
Among the defendants, names of political and institutional weight stand out. In addition to former Minister Mosquera, there is also former Undersecretary of State for Coordination and Strategic Planning, Lucas Sebastián Mezzano, now a member of the Security Forces Conduct Tribunal. Both were accused of offering gifts. The person opposite is the retired senior inspector Gonzalo Leonardo Cumplido, who is accused of accepting gifts.
According to prosecutors, Mosquera and Mezzano delivered a Toyota Corolla with insurance and fuel to Cumplido while the police crime was being investigated. The vehicle was always granted in accordance with the requirements in a sensitive context when the police’s actions were subject to public and judicial scrutiny.
Cumplido also faces a more serious charge: aggravated concealment due to failure to report. Prosecutors claim they knew the police officers who shot Blas Correas planted a gun to divert the investigation and yet didn’t press charges.
Another central chapter of the requirement refers to the behavior of the agents who were at the crime scene. Seven police officers were summoned to court on charges of abuse of authority and accused of failing to assist Blas when he was seriously injured during a vehicle check at the intersection of Chacabuco and Corrientes. According to the accusation, they did not provide aid or facilitate his transport to the emergency hospital, thereby violating the public safety law. Among them are Norberto González, Emmanuel Alejandro Fachisthers, Natalia Soledad Márquez, Melisa Janet Escalante, Ezequiel Daniel Eduardo Henot, Leonardo Alejandro Martínez and Rodrigo Emanuel Toloza. Márquez was also charged with minor injuries for kicking Camila María Toci during a preventative search.
The request also reaches the former director of the Communications and Video Surveillance Center, Víctor Rubén Di Stéfano, who is accused of abuse of office for allowing police chiefs access to the camera room to observe the images of the crime in its various sequences.
At the same time, Mondino submitted three antecedents: the situation of the former police chief Liliana Zárate Belletti, in which she considered that there was no crime related to the carrying of weapons by one of the convicts; the alleged lack of psychological support for families due to a lack of specific rules; and the Ana Becerra investigation, which has already been analyzed by another jurisdiction.
There is still an undefined section: the accusation of violating evidence against seven police officers, which is currently being examined by the Supreme Court of Cordoba.
With this requirement, the Blas Correas II case goes to a key authority. The conversation is no longer about who shot, but rather how the state responded when the damage was done and the truth began to worry.
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