Víctor Santisteban's family rejects Ministry of Interior's version of his death and demands the truth (La República [Spanish] - 1/30/2023)
The victim's sister demands the government of President Dina Boluarte and the media tell the truth about the cause of death of Víctor Santisteban Yacsavilca. The Ministry of the Interior changed its initial version to another that falsely states that the deceased received a "blow."
María Elena Hidalgo
Series of photos showing the precise moment in which a beam of light precedes the projectile that would kill Víctor Santisteban in the ninth block of Ave. Abancay. He was not hit by a stone. (photo composition La República)
The Ministry of the Interior issued two contradictory statements regarding the death of Víctor Santisteban Yacsavilca , killed at the intersection of Nicolás de Piérola and Abancay avenues, on the night of Saturday, January 28.
In the first, the Ministry indicates that Santisteban's death was due to a severe brain injury (TEC). But then the Ministry of the Interior deleted that information and replaced it with another indicating that the death was caused by a "blunt-cutting wound behind the ear, the product of a blow," to rule out the possibility that Santisteban was hit by a projectile.
Elizabeth Santisteban Yacsavilca, the victim's sister, stood at the door of the Central Morgue in Lima and expressed her rejection of the manipulation of the truth by the government for having launched differing interpretations about the cause of her brother's violent death.
The change in the official version by the Ministry of the Interior rules out that it was a member of the Peruvian National Police (PNP) who fired the fatal shot, and that the perpetrator was a protester.
"Today (Saturday) not one person died, an entire family died. Because the condolences of the President (Dina Boluarte), of Congress, of the police are not going to give me back my brother. I have my father (Raúl Santisteban) 74 years old, who is dying of pain. But here it is: it has been a forceful and hard artifact. If you can enter Twitter, TikTok, Instagram or Facebook, you will be able to see on all the videos that my brother was killed, his skull was smashed, by a hard blunt object, not a rock," Elizabeth Santisteban said.
Elizabeth Santisteban claimed the government and the media is misrepresenting the causes of her brother's death.
Video evidence
The victim's sister was referring to a video that captures the moment when a trail of fire emerges from a group of police officers stationed at the intersection of Nicolás de Piérola and Abancay avenues and went to the other sidewalk where several people were located. When the projectile hit, the body of Víctor Santisteban was left on the ground. While some attend to the wounded man, a young man clears what appears be a smoking tear gas cartridge with his foot. No people are seen throwing stones with their hands, slingshots or huaracas and other artifacts.
For this reason, those who witnesses complained to the policemen who were watching Santisteban in a pool of blood. These images do not agree with the government's version of the death of Víctor Santisteban Yacsavilca, a 55-year-old native of Yauyos, Sierra de Lima.
This is what angered Santisteban Yacsavilca's family.
"So I, Elizabeth Santisteban, sister of the deceased, deny all the (television) channels that are saying that it was a stone. Tell the truth! It is the only thing I ask of you, respect my family, tell the truth! Definitely, we are going to get to the last consequences, and the ones that must fall, will fall because the videos are there and we are going to find all the videos that we are going to need," said the sister of the victim on Saturday night.
Autopsy results
According to the autopsy certificate issued by the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, of the Public Ministry, the cause of death of Víctor Santisteban was "contusion and encephalic laceration, skull fracture, severe head trauma. "
And regarding the "causing agent", the autopsy certificate concludes: "Hard blunt element." In other words, this result is compatible with what the Ministry of the Interior's first statement, and does not coincide with the second, which says that Santisteban died from a "blunt-cutting wound behind the ear, the product of a blow." The autopsy certificate does not indicate at all that Santisteban received a "blow."
The autopsy report, signed by ten medical specialists, and signed by prosecutors Kristhel Sarmiento Romero and Alexei Castro Dolorier, contains the same conclusions as the autopsy certificate, which differs completely from the second statement from the Ministry of the Interior.
Those who support the government of President Dina Boluarte used the second statement from the Ministry of the Interior to affirm without evidence that Víctor Santisteban died from a stone thrown by protesters.
Among them, the retired PNP Major José Luis Gil, a former anti-terrorist intelligence officer, who wrote on his Twitter account: "Terrorists from SL (Sendero Luminoso) and MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru) infiltrated in marches, assassinated Víctor Santisteban Yacsavilca (55) was thrown a stone, who arrived at the Miguel Grau hospital, 'presents a blunt-cutting wound in the retroauricular region, that is, behind the ear, the product of a blow'". He did not present evidence, he only relied on what was said by the Ministry of the Interior.
"Yes, I am addressing the President as a woman, as a mother, as a sister, to look at us and help us, because it is not enough to offer condolences, we want action. You want peace, we also want healthy justice," said Elizabeth Santisteban.
Tags: #Peru #Protests #VíctorSantistebanYacsavilca #PNP
Comments
Post a Comment