Santiago's Third Oral Criminal Court acquitted eight defendants in the SQM case by majority, including former senator Pablo Longueira and candidate Marco Enríquez-Ominami, criticizing the process's length and the prosecution's evidence quality. The verdict highlights a violation of the right to a timely trial after 11 years of investigation and a three-year trial. The sentence will be delivered in August 2026, leaving room for a nullity appeal.
The SQM case, probing illegal campaign financing via fake invoices, began in 2014 with initial probes and raids in 2015 under prosecutor Sabas Chahuán. In March 2015, a special team was advancing, but national prosecutor Jorge Abbott split the investigations, which ex-prosecutor Emiliano Arias says caused contradictions and irreparable damage. The indictment was filed in Abbott's era, and the oral trial started in February 2023, lasting 560 sessions and nearly three years.
The court, with votes from magistrates María Teresa Barrientos and Claudia Santos against Carolina Paredes's dissent, acquitted the defendants of bribery, embezzlement, and tax crimes. It rebuked Valparaíso's prosecution, led by Claudia Perivancich, for submitting 14,000 repeated documents and low-quality evidence, like hearsay witnesses. "There is a flagrant violation of the right to be tried within a reasonable time," the judges stated, noting 13 witnesses died during the process.
Arias called the acquittal "one of the most serious and impactful resolutions the prosecution has faced," urging a nullity appeal despite flaws in the indictment's congruence. Experts like Mauricio Duce and Matías Balmaceda questioned the maximum 10-month deadline for the sentence, until August 5, 2026, as contradictory to delay criticisms. Prosecutor Perivancich regretted the outcome but will assess appealing, acknowledging high costs for a retrial.
Presidential candidate Evelyn Matthei dubbed it "a shame," highlighting 12 years without results and eroded trust in justice. The case, emblematic of the criminal procedural system, demands reviewing indefinite indictments to ensure reasonable timelines.
