Words by mapuche activist Moira Millán, judicialized for defending her people’s rights
On February 21, 2019, weichafe Moira Ivana Millán will be tried in Argentina. She is charged with “aggravated coercion” for organizing a peaceful demonstration in 2017 in protest of the violations to the rights of Mapuche communities committed by the Argentinian gendarmerie during the raids in September of that year. The raids were authorized by the federal judge Guido Otranto, and were part of the investigations for the disappearance of the activist Santiago Maldonado in August 2017, and who was found ded in October that year. During the raids, the gendarmerie beat and humilliated the Mapuche people.
Moira Millán was acquitted of all charges in September 2018 by judge Gustavo Lleral, but the prosecution appealed the decision. If she is declared guilty this February 21, she could face from two to four years in prison.