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Human rights groups have dubbed Milagro Sala the “first political prisoner” of the right-wing Mauricio Macri administration.
Argentina’s Appeals Chamber of Jujuy rejected the release of Indigenous leader Milagro Sala, after rejecting the defense appeal filed by her lawyer.
For the judges, the release of Sala could “hinder the normal process” against her and the Tupac Amaru neighborhood movement she leads.
Milagro Sala was arrested after a raid on January 16 this year at her home in the capital of the province of Jujuy, with rights groups later dubbing her the “first political prisoner” of the Macri administration.
She was taken to the women’s police station under a court order of Raul Gutierrez, after being charged for alleged “incitement to commit crimes and riots in real competition.”
Her arrest came after she set up a camp in front of the local government of Jujuy, to reject the reorganization of the distribution of subsidies to cooperatives raised by the local government of Gerardo Morales, an ally of the Cambiemos party of President Mauricio Macri.
According to activists and human rights defenders in Argentina, the detention of Sala is synonymous with the criminalization of protest.