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🇨🇱 Chile /Crime & Justice

Chilean Court Dismisses Charges Against Ex-Football Chief Sergio Jadue Due to Statute of Limitations

From Cooperativa · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • A Chilean court dismissed charges against former ANFP president Sergio Jadue due to the statute of limitations.
  • The Public Ministry confirmed it will evaluate appealing the decision, as they disagreed with the court's interpretation of the penalty determination rule.
  • Jadue, who has resided in the U.S. since late 2015, was facing charges related to embezzlement and malicious tax declarations stemming from his management between 2011 and 2015.

A Santiago court has dismissed charges against former president of the National Football Association of Chile (ANFP), Sergio Jadue, after ruling that the statute of limitations had expired for the alleged offenses. The Public Ministry, however, has stated it will consider appealing the resolution.

Following a hearing at the 13th Guarantee Court of Santiago on Tuesday, prosecutor Marco Paredes emphasized that the ruling is not final. "This resolution is essentially appealable, and the appeal is the only recourse available in cases of dismissal," Paredes stated. He explained that the prosecution's legal team had a different interpretation of the penalty determination rule, which led the court to a different conclusion regarding the time limits for prosecution.

This resolution is essentially appealable, the appeal is the only recourse available in cases of dismissal, and obviously, the Public Ministry, when it has the resolution in its hands and is notified, will evaluate filing it.

— Marco ParedesProsecutor Marco Paredes confirmed the Public Ministry's intention to evaluate an appeal against the court's decision to dismiss charges against Sergio Jadue.

The court's decision nullified the accusations of embezzlement and malicious tax declarations that were leveled against Jadue and his former advisor, Mauricio Etcheverry. The prosecution had argued that the statute of limitations had not yet expired, citing the last alleged criminal act by Jadue occurring in January 2017, which they believed kept the extradition request valid. However, the court disagreed, determining that the investigation had been stalled for over 10 years, thus triggering the statute of limitations for criminal action.

With this ruling, the former Chilean football leader avoids local justice for financial irregularities during his tenure from 2011 to 2015. Jadue has been living in the United States for nearly a decade, having traveled there in late 2015 to cooperate as a protected witness in the international corruption case known as "FIFA Gate."

We had the thesis that, due to a penalty determination rule, the deadline had to be longer. The court considered something else.

— Marco ParedesProsecutor Marco Paredes explained the discrepancy in legal interpretation between the prosecution and the court regarding the statute of limitations.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Cooperativa in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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