Ei-iE

The convicted murderer of Argentine teacher Carlos Fuentealba has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in Neuquén, the city in which he was killed during a peaceful teacher union demonstration last year.

On 4 April 2007, members of the Asociación de Trabajadores de la Educación de Neuquén (ATEN) demonstrated to back their demands for decent wages and other improvements. Even though it was a peaceful protest, provincial police were ordered to disperse the crowd. Sgt. José Darío Poblete shot a tear gas canister which struck Fuentealba in the back of the neck. He was taken to hospital in a coma, and died two days later. He was 40 years old.

Fuentealba was a respected and beloved chemistry teacher; in 2006, his students gave him an award for being the best teacher in the school. He was married and the father of two daughters, aged 10 and 14.

Over the past decade, numerous Argentine trade unionists have suffered a similar fate to Fuentealba, however no one has been prosecuted for their deaths. The sentencing of Sgt. Poblete brings the long record of impunity to an end. Poblete had been twice convicted of earlier criminal offences, most recently for abuse of prisoners, but he had not spent any time behind bars on those charges.

EI acknowledges this historic judgement and salutes the tireless efforts of the Confederación de Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina (CTERA), its members and supporters in their pursuit of justice for Fuentealba and his family.

General Secretary Fred Van Leeuwen expressed his satisfaction that justice had been seen to be done, but warned that such repression against peaceful protesters must be prevented from happening again. “It is very positive that the judiciary of Argentina has acted firmly in the face of such a heinous crime, yet we must not forget that the policeman who took the life of our colleague was presumably acting under orders,” van Leeuwen said. Beyond the charges against Poblete, CTERA has brought forward a second court case, Causa Fuentealba 2, seeking to hold accountable those higher up the chain of command who gave the orders for such violent repressive action.

EI joins the teacher unions, social movements, and Argentine people in their call: "No to impunity! No to the criminalisation of social protest!"