The court rejected Eva "Higui" de Jesús's request for release from prison. Her lawyer called the decision "discriminatory and sexist" and said she would appeal. The family and the Justice for Higui Working Group are calling for a National Day of Action for "freedom and acquittal" on Wednesday, May 17. By Paula Bistagnino. Photos: Ariel Gutraich. The San Martín Court of Guarantees No. 6 (temporarily presided over by Judge Raúl Luchelli Ramos) rejected the request for release of Eva "Higui" de Jesús, submitted by her lawyer, Raquel Hermida Leyenda. The court argued that "the procedural risks" that led to her pretrial detention in November "remain in effect." Higui has been in custody since October 16, when members of a gang attempted to rape her , and in defending herself, she fatally wounded one of them. “We are moving forward, now more than ever, with the call for a National Day of Action ,” said Carolina Abregú, the first to support the demand for justice, initially through the Gender Advocacy Office of Malvinas Argentinas and now through the Furia Feminista (Feminist Fury) group. Higui has a family deeply involved in the cause. Her mother and sisters—Susana Reales, Elisa, and Azucena Díaz—along with Abregú, are crucial members of the Justice for Higui Commission. From there, they work for her release and closely follow every activity. Through the commission, they also seek to ensure that the legal proceedings progress in tandem with the struggle in the streets. The working group also includes representatives from social organizations, who diligently raise funds to cover travel expenses and flyers. The call for the national day of action emerged from this working group for Higui. It will be held on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Other organizations have since joined in to support the cause.

"His sentence is discriminatory and sexist."

“We are preparing the appeal. We believe that the arguments denying his release are not only insufficient, but that this judge did not even read the request we submitted. He did not consider the new evidence that exists.” His sentence is discriminatory and sexist.“The lawyer from the Containment Network told Presentes. She took on Higui’s defense last February, four months after her arrest. Higui is accused of simple homicide, although her statement and much of the evidence indicate that it was an act of self-defense when she was attacked by a group of men from a gang who threatened to rape her, shouting, “We’re going to make you feel like a woman, you whore, you lesbian.” Presents Hermida Leyenda obtained access to Judge Luchelli Ramos's ruling, in which he invoked the same grounds as when ordering pretrial detention: risk of flight and obstruction of the investigation. The appeal, Hermida Leyenda explains, is based on the fact that “the judge failed to properly deny the extraordinary release, as he did not substantiate the existing procedural risk to which he alluded. Firstly, he did not substantiate…” how Higui could obstruct justice or the risk of flight The one he's talking about. This judge didn't read the request we submitted nor did he take into account the new tests existing in the process. But also, His ruling is discriminatory, sexist, and contradicts established case law.“...even from cases handled by the San Martín Court.” One of the new pieces of evidence mentioned by the defense attorney is the psychological expertise incorporated three weeks agowhich corroborated Higui's account. Its findings are consistent with an attempted assault. In addition, there are the results of the forensic examination of the clothing. These were challenged by the defense because the boxer shorts she was wearing, which were torn in the vaginal area, were not examined. The main argument of request for extraordinary releaseThe 32-page document, based on both national and international laws and jurisprudence, as well as human rights treaties and conventions, states that Higui has no prior criminal record for the crime for which she is now charged. It also argues that the potential sentence—8 to 25 years for simple homicide—is insufficient to justify the claim that her release could jeopardize the legal process. Conversely, the defense maintains that her release poses no procedural risks, nor are there any grounds to believe she will evade justice—the very arguments that led to her being ordered to pretrial detention in November, two weeks after her arrest.

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May 17: rally in front of Congress

“We are moving forward, now more than ever, with the call that came out of the Justice for Higui Working Group, of which the family and different organizations are part, for a National Day,” confirmed Carolina Abregú, former head of the Gender Defense Office of Malvinas Argentinas and now member of the Furia Feminista group. The National Day will be the May 17, International Day Against Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender IdentityIn the morning, at 10:00 AM, the recently formed Front for the Freedom and Absolution of Higui is calling for a rally at the entrance to the San Martín Courthouse, where there will be an open radio broadcast, among other activities. The day will culminate at 5:00 PM with a rally in front of the National Congress, where the presence of organizations and independent demonstrators is expected. There will also be a traveling exhibition, a fair, performances, rock bands, and a soccer match.

[READ MORE: Why psychological evaluations can change the course of the case]

Higui's mother and sisters are leading the call to action. Other groups have joined, including the recently formed Front for Higui's Freedom and Absolution. The main slogans that day will be "Freedom for Higui, attacked for being a lesbian and imprisoned for defending herself" and "Higui, a political prisoner of the patriarchy."

“We cannot allow justice to laugh in our faces: Higui in prison and the oppressors free.”

María Rachid, general secretary of FALGBT, told Presentes: “The Higui case clearly expresses many of the forms of violence inherent in this capitalist and patriarchal system. Corrective rapes are that system's response to her being a lesbian. The violence is a response to her being a woman. And the fact that she is the one imprisoned and not her attackers is a response to her being poor. Rachid believes that "this This injustice occurs in a context where, while a poor lesbian woman is imprisoned for defending herself, the repressors of the dictatorship regain their freedom by a decision of the same justice system that today decides to keep her imprisoned even without a conviction. As lesbians, as women, and also as citizens, we cannot allow Higui to remain imprisoned. We cannot allow the oppressors to be released. We cannot allow justice to mock us.

[READ ALSO: "Higui is stronger, eager to be released soon" ]

New Front for the Freedom and Absolution of Higui

This new working group was formed on Thursday, May 4th, at a meeting in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires. Approximately 30 social and political organizations gathered there. Among them were La Fulana, the FALGBT (Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgender People), and the Permanent Lesbian AssemblyThe Gender Advocacy Office, Actibanda, La Dignidad, Catholics for Choice, the Workers' Party, Juntas a la Izquierda, Movimiento Evita, and the Anti-Discrimination Liberation Movement (MAL) were also present. “The Working Group, of which Higui's family is a part, also participated,” Paz Dellacasagrande, from La Fulana, who attended the meeting, explained to Presentes. “It is not a minor issue that Higui, detained for six months for defending herself against an attempted abuse, is a attempted corrective rape for being a lesbian"She remains deprived of her liberty today," he emphasized. And he added, regarding the rejection of the extraordinary release: "We will continue to demand that Higui be allowed to go home, to house arrest. This means that she goes to a designated address to await trial, an address from which she will not be able to leave. There will be a hearing for this, the date of which we do not yet know."