Social Organizations Pay Tribute to Mapuche Student Killed in Chile

Santiago de Chile, Jan 3. -Social organizations and indigenous representatives on Tuesday will begin demonstrations in several cities around the country, in honor of the Mapuche student Matías Catrileo, on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of his death.On January 3, 2008, Catrileo, 23, was shot in the back by a soldier, while participating in a demonstration demanding the Mapuche people's ancestral lands in the Araucanian region.

A military prosecutor found guilty the policeman who shot him and asked the military court to sentence him to 10 years in prison, but the Martial Court in the southern city of Valdivia sentenced the policeman to three years and one day with the benefit of probation.

On December, the Supreme Court upheld the local court's decision and accordingly endorsed the benefit of probation for Second Corporal Walter Ramirez, a ruling that caused outrage in indigenous communities.

On Tuesday, the victim's family will participate in a march with the Mapuche in Temuco, capital of the Araucanian region, and other similar demonstrations in memory of Matias Catrileo will take place in the regions of Bio Bio, O Higgins and in the capital city.

According to the Mapuexpress website, a candle vigil will also be held in Stockholm, Sweden, to demand the trial and punishment of those guilty of crimes against the Mapuche people in Chile. (Prensa Latina)