By María Eugenia Ludueña. The public trial for the transphobic murder of Amancay Diana Sacayán will begin on February 16, 2018. This was announced by the Criminal and Correctional Court No. 4 of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires to the plaintiffs, led by Diana's brother, Sasha Sacayán, and the family. “This is the moment for justice, for the first time in Argentina's history, to address the deaths of trans women and speak of structural violence, gender hatred, and hate crimes. It is time to redress so many years of turning a blind eye and the many murdered sisters who have not received justice,” Sasha Sacayán, coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Liberation Movement (MAL), told Presentes . Furthermore, yesterday the Court of Cassation confirmed that INADI (National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism) will be able to participate in the trial as a plaintiff. The court rejected the defense's motion to remove INADI (National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism) from the case. “This trial will be historic because it is the first time the death of a trans woman is being investigated as a hate crime, and it is framed within the structural violence to which thousands of trans and travesti people are subjected. It is a momentous process because it concerns Diana, who was one of the most important human rights defenders in our country. We hope that this trial will culminate in an exemplary sentence and recognize that Diana's brutal murder was a transphobic hate crime,” Sasha Sacayán stated in a press release issued today by the Commission of Family Members and Comrades for Justice for Diana Sacayán – Stop Transphobic Murders. Diana Sacayán—an activist, leader of MAL, and alternate secretary of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC)—was found dead on October 13, 2015, in her apartment in the Flores neighborhood, where she lived with a friend. She had been stabbed 13 times. So far, forensic evidence has identified a 23-year-old man as the perpetrator. David Marino is going to trial accused of aggravated homicide motivated by treachery, hate, and gender. The results of psychiatric evaluations, which will determine whether Marino is fit to stand trial, are expected between today and tomorrow. For the past two years, the Commission of Family Members and Comrades for Justice for Diana Sacayán has been using all kinds of actions in different spheres to publicly demand “that the murder of our comrade Diana be investigated and prosecuted.” In the pursuit of having Diana's murder prosecuted as a transphobic hate crime and a transphobic hate crime, the prosecution took actions such as publicly warning that the second suspect should not be taken as a scapegoat and requesting that the investigation continue regarding other individuals who may have participated in the crime. On December 27, 2016, Chamber 4 of the National Criminal and Correctional Appeals Court of the City of Buenos Aires ruled in favor of this request from the prosecution and the plaintiffs. It ordered that the main suspect in the crime be brought to trial and that supplementary measures be carried out to confirm or rule out the participation of the second suspect in the case and to continue pursuing pending lines of investigation.

"We know there were two killers."

“The involvement of one of the accused is not in question. We know there were two killers. We want to know who the other one is. We need the investigation to remain open to clarify what happened. That's what Diana deserves, and what we all deserve,” said Luciana Sanchez, the Commission's lawyer. “There is a lot of prejudice in the justice system; the fact that we are even talking about a transphobic murder is a great achievement. It is important that there be justice for Diana, not only for her friends and family, but also for democracy.” “We are in the final stages of a long and difficult process where we poured our hearts and souls into achieving justice for Diana,” the members of the Commission stated in a press release announcing the trial date. In their request for a trial, the prosecution linked the crime to Diana's activism for trans rights. "The circumstances and the manner in which the act was committed suggest that the homicide was motivated by her status as a trans woman and by her position as a member of the Sexual Diversity Program team of Inadi and a promoter of the fight for the rights of trans people."

[READ MORE: Two years without Diana Sacayán: “She continues to be our guiding light”]

In the last ten days, two transphobic murders resulted in convictions in the Argentine justice system: the murder of Vanesa Zabala in Reconquista (Santa Fe), and the murder of Natalia Sandoval in Mendoza. In neither case did the courts include in their rulings the aggravating circumstance of hatred based on gender identity. The trial for the transphobic murder of activist Diana Sacayán also seeks to set a precedent in this regard: that such crimes be prosecuted as hate crimes and transphobic murders.

[READ MORE: Transvesticide of Natalia Sandoval: the two accused were sentenced to life imprisonment ]

“We are in a difficult situation. We come from two court cases where, although a life sentence was achieved in the very significant way for the cases of Vanesa Zabala in Santa Fe and Natalia Sandoval in Mendoza, the aggravating factors of hate and gender were not considered in these crimes. We want the trial of Diana Sacayán to address the situation of structural violence that our sisters experience and for the perpetrators to be judged with the charges of hate crime and transphobic murder,” said Sasha Sacayán.

[READ MORE: Trial for the transvesticide of Vanesa Zabala: life imprisonment for the murderers ]

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