21 62. Aniceto Norín was accused of the fire that burned the San Gregorio property; with that, criminal proceedings were instituted against him in which he was charged with the crimes of terrorist 74 arson and of threatening the owners and managers of the property with terrorist arson. 63. The authorities also charged Patricia Roxana Troncoso Robles as one of the arsonists. She is an activist who has supported the Mapuche indigenous people’s social movement and territorial 75 claims. 64. The criminal cases against Pascual Pichún, Aniceto Norín and Patricia Troncoso were conducted as a single trial, in which the party bringing the charge was the Public Prosecutor’s Office; the Office of the Intendant of Region IX and the Office of the Governor of Malleco Province became parties 76 to the case, and Juan Agustín Figueroa was the private accuser. 2. Preventive detention and criminal investigation prior to indictment 65. Under the provisions of Law 18,314, the investigation was conducted in secret for six 77 months. In September 2002, the investigation was closed and the suspects were formally charged; 78 March 31, 2003 was set as the date for oral arguments. 66. The Public Prosecutor’s Office requested that Lonko Pascual Pichún be taken into custody on the very day of the fire at the Nancahue tree farm; Traiguén’s judge charged with protecting the constitutional rights and guarantees of persons under investigation acceded to the request and issued the warrant to have him taken into custody, which happened on December 21 of that year; 79 Pascual Pichún was held in preventive detention for three days. Then, on March 3, 2002, Pascual Pichún was again taken into custody by order of the court; this time he was in preventive detention for one year and three months. Similarly, Lonko Aniceto Norín was taken into preventive custody on March 80 3, 2002, and was held in custody until the original verdict of acquittal was handed down. 74 Original petition that Aniceto Norín Catrimán filed with the IACHR, received on August 15, 2003, p. 6. Verdict of the Angol oral criminal trial court – chamber with jurisdiction, September 27, 2003. Addendum to the communication that attorney Rodrigo Lillo Vera sent to the IACHR on behalf of Aniceto Norín, received on December 23, 2003, and to the communication from Pascual Pichún Paillalao supplementing the original petition he filed with the IACHR, received June 21, 2004. 75 Original petition that Aniceto Norín Catrimán filed with the IACHR, received on August 15, 2003, p. 6. Verdict of the Angol oral criminal trial court – chamber with jurisdiction, September 27, 2003. Addendum to the communication that attorney Rodrigo Lillo Vera sent to the IACHR on behalf of Aniceto Norín, received on December 23, 2003, and to the communication from Pascual Pichún Paillalao supplementing the original petition he filed with the IACHR, received June 21, 2004. 76 Original petition that Aniceto Norín Catrimán filed with the IACHR, received on August 15, 2003. Original petition that Pascual Pichún Paillalao filed with the IACHR, received on August 15, 2003. Verdict of the Angol oral criminal trial court, April 14, 2003, Consideranda 1. Attached to the original petitions that Aniceto Norín and Pascual Pichún filed with the IACHR, received August 15, 2003. 77 Original petition that Aniceto Norín Catrimán filed with the IACHR, received on August 15, 2003, p. 7. Original petition that Pascual Pichún Paillalao filed with the IACHR, received on August 15, 2003, p. 3. Not contested by the State. 78 Original petition that Aniceto Norín Catrimán filed with the IACHR, received on August 15, 2003, p. 7. Original petition that Pascual Pichún Paillalao filed with the IACHR, received on August 15, 2003, p. 3. Not contested by the State. 79 In the original petition that Pascual Pichún Paillalao filed with the IACHR, received on August 15, 2003, the following is explained: “On the morning of the very day of the fire at the home of the manager of the Nancahue Tree Farm, even before the tests were done to determine the cause of the fire, the investigating prosecutor with the Public Prosecutor’s Office asked that I be taken into custody (…). The Traiguén judge charged with protecting the rights and guarantees of persons under investigation (…) agreed to his request and issued a warrant for my arrest. // On December 21, 2001, I was taken into custody. A decision of the Traiguén Judge of Constitutional Guarantees ordered that I be held in custody for another three days, so that the Prosecutor might compile background information to formally institute the investigation (…) At the end of those three days, the hearing was held where the public prosecutor formally advised me that I was under investigation, but he also said that he did not have the information he needed to bring formal charges; he asked the court to extend my detention by another seven days in application of Law 18, 314, which criminalizes terrorist offenses and establishes the penalties they carry. The Judge of Constitutional Guarantees denied the prosecutor’s request on the grounds that the conditions to classify the action as a terrorist offense had not been established, and there ordered my unconditional release.” ( p. 3) 80 Original petition that Pascual Pichún Paillalao filed with the IACHR, received on August 15, 2003, p. 3. Not contested by the State.