The last of the 10 police officers arrested for the transfemicide of Sofía Fernández has been released.
Sofía Fernández, a trans woman, was killed in a police station in Pilar in April 2023. Ten police officers were arrested in her case. The last one was released.
Share
Judge Walter Saettone, of the 7th Guarantee Court in Pilar, released the last of the 10 police officers who had been detained for the transvesticide of Sofía Fernández . Sofía died between April 8 and 10, 2023, at the Derqui police station in Pilar (Buenos Aires province).
The suspect is Assistant Officer Carlos Rodríguez. He is charged with " aggravated homicide due to hatred of gender identity, by the premeditated collaboration of two or more persons, and perpetrated by members of the police force ." Rodríguez had been arrested along with nine other members of the Buenos Aires police force who were released in May of last year. In his case, the evidence was sufficient to keep him under arrest. It was even proven that he was the only one who could have entered the cell where Sofía was being held in the early hours of the morning of her death.
The judge's decision supported the prosecutor's request for release after a new report dismissed the incident as a hate crime. Despite the recommendation to release Rodríguez, the prosecutor's office maintains the triple charge .
The factual sequence report, attorney Ignacio Fernández Camillo told Tiempo Argentino , presents several inconsistencies. Furthermore, the plaintiffs' office detected some irregularities. Among them, the judge's failure to notify Sofía's family of the police officer's release, an act that violates the victim's rights, Fernández Camillo emphasized.
A trial pending for months
The plaintiff filed a brief alleging the judge's absence. There, they also requested an immediate referral to trial, a request made in February of this year by the Gender Prosecutor's Office—headed by Manuel Cayena and Esteban Álvarez—which conducted the investigation. The filing highlights the work of that prosecutor's office, conducted with a gender perspective and respecting Sofía's identity. Mabel Valdéz, sister of the murdered trans woman, reiterated that it was a transfemicide, as requested by the prosecutors. The plaintiff confirmed to this media outlet that the initial steps to initiate the referral to trial began in February. However, there has been no further developments in this regard so far.
The prosecution's request, which the complaint accompanies, is based on the concept of transfemicide: "triple homicide, aggravated by the hatred of Sofía's gender identity, the premeditated participation of two or more people, and the fact that it was perpetrated by officers of the Buenos Aires Province police." The complaint clarified that, even if the prosecution's request were not taken into account, a trial is necessary: this is a case of death in custody, aggravated by the irregularity of the detention. Sofía Fernández was detained incommunicado in a men's prison for an alleged bailable offense. So far, all reports and forensic examinations extracted from cell phones indicate that the police officers, both men and women, harbored animosity toward Sofía because she is a trans woman.
We are Present
We are committed to a type of journalism that delves deeply into the realm of the world and offers in-depth research, combined with new technologies and narrative formats. We want the protagonists, their stories, and their struggles to be present.
SUPPORT US
FOLLOW US
Related Notes
We Are Present
This and other stories don't usually make the media's attention. Together, we can make them known.