The case for the arrests of Liza Rule and Martín Iglesia took a central turn this Thursday: the prosecution finally enabled access to the bodycam recordings of the Mendoza Police, incorporated into the file several weeks ago but without the possibility of being viewed by the defenses. Images show officers beating, dragging and subduing protesters inside the Provincial Legislature, a public building used as an illegal detention center.
The film records confirm, according to the CeProDH (Center of Professionals for Human Rights), that the police violence occurred within the demonstration that protested against the advance of the San Jorge mining project and not as a response to excesses. In the case of Martín Iglesias, the images show how he is taken by several officers, immobilized on the floor and beaten. Those of Liza Rule show the commissioner in charge of the operation grabbing her by the neck and dragging her into the building.
Liza Rule and Martín Iglesia were arrested as part of the repression of a mobilization in defense of water on October 23. Both were illegally detained and beaten inside the provincial Legislature, an unprecedented and very serious event. They were then transferred and detained for several days before being charged for alleged destruction that they never committed.
Now, the images come to light a few days after a mobilization that will be massive: next Tuesday, the provincial senate will vote on the Environmental Impact Declaration of the mining project and actions and mobilizations are being called throughout the province that will converge next Tuesday in the Legislature.
From the Left Front, leader Lautaro Jiménez reiterated his position: “We demand the resignation of the vice governor and the Minister of Security – responsible for directing and covering up this action – and the immediate arrest of all the torturers who appear in the filming. Institutional violence and illegal repression will not go unpunished,” he declared.
#Urgent The prosecution added to the file footage from the Mendoza Police that shows how they used the Provincial Legislature to detain and torture people who were peacefully demonstrating against polluting mining. Nothing like this was ever seen in the house of laws. pic.twitter.com/6gfqUfun0c
— Lautaro Jimenez (@LautaroJimenezB) December 5, 2025
In an interview with MDZ Radio, Enrique Jasid—CeProDH lawyer—explained that the chambers inside the Legislature have not yet been handed over by the responsible authorities. “We only have what the bodycams record. The internal cameras do not appear. The Legislature cannot be used as a detention center. It is illegal,” he stated. According to their version, the police operation began when the security cordon prevented the mobilization from accessing Plaza Independencia and, far from dissuading, the agents advanced on the column with pushes and blows.
The lawyer also maintained that there are more hours of recording that have not yet been released and that compromise police chiefs. He pointed out Commissioner Rilli, who was in charge of the operation on the day of the repression, as one of the officials involved in violent maneuvers and arrests without cause.
For Jasid, the context is not accidental and responds to an attempt by the provincial Executive to “generate fear” among those who plan to demonstrate. However, the lawyer considered that the leak of the images exposes the irregular actions of the Police and exposes the political responsibility of the operation: “They want to discourage the protest, but what these videos show is the violence with which they acted.”
The defenses will insist that the internal recordings of the Legislature be delivered and stressed that the arrests should have been made on public roads. The use of an institutional building as a forced accommodation space for protesters is already, for the organizations, a serious fact that involves political authorities and not only the police chain of command.
While waiting for new publications of audiovisual material, CeProDH, socio-environmental, student and political organizations are preparing next Tuesday’s mobilization, where the rejection of the mining project and the repressive operation will once again be expressed. “The population has the right to protest and defend the environment. They are not going to intimidate us,” Jasid insisted.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
