Original article: Caso SQM: Tribunal absuelve a todos por “actuar poco prolijo” de la Fiscalía

By a majority vote (2-1), the Oral Criminal Court of Santiago brought the SQM Case to a close with a complete acquittal, attributing the outcome to the prosecution’s «mismanagement» that unnecessarily prolonged the case, weakened the available evidence, and failed to demonstrate—beyond a reasonable doubt—the ideological falsity of the invoices and receipts. Among those acquitted are Pablo Longueira, Marco Enríquez-Ominami, and Patricio Contesse.

The president of the Third Chamber, Judge María Teresa Barrientos, communicated the conclusion that «in this case, there is a blatant violation of the right to be tried within a reasonable time, affecting all the accused, being the only way to remedy such violation and prevent the adoption of an acquittal decision, considering that this is the solution proposed by the American system that inspired the criminal procedure reform and is entirely justified in light of the fundamental principles governing such systems».
The decision was adopted by the majority of Claudia Andrea Santos Silva and María Teresa Barrientos Marabolí, with Carolina Andrea Paredes Arizaga voting against.

«Mismanagement»

The judge stated that the Public Prosecutor’s Office committed «mismanagement», leading to a violation of the reasonable timeline due to the excessive length of the process. Among the reasons cited were the complexity of the case, the deaths of 14 key witnesses, and the use of hearsay testimony, factors that affected the memory and ability for cross-examination of the parties.
The Court emphasized: «It should be noted that for the majority, the main reasons for the excessive delay of these proceedings did not stem from an alleged complexity of the investigation and the charges made against each defendant, but rather from the decision made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to group various investigations shortly before their closure».

«In trial, it became evident that, due to the length of the criminal process, there was a clear deterioration in the quality of the evidence, especially testimonial and expert evidence», the ruling added, pointing to the time delays: «the passage of days, weeks, months, and years affects people’s memory and the facts in question cover a period from 2008 to 2015, with witnesses and experts testifying in 2023, 2024, and 2025 about events that occurred 8, 10, 15, and even 17 years ago».

SQM Case: Core Unable to Be Credibly Established Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Regarding the ideologically false invoices, the Court detailed: «Notwithstanding the arguments regarding the principle of consistency, with the evidence presented and assessed according to the guidelines outlined, the ideological falsity of the honorarium receipts and invoices was not established beyond a reasonable doubt, as the remaining evidence was insufficient after applying the aforementioned criteria».
It added: «The evidence proved insufficient to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that these were ideologically false documents, and even less so, the malicious actions as required by law».

As a corollary to the ruling, Marco Enríquez-Ominami publicly celebrated the decision, stating that the verdict clears over a decade of suspicion: «Justice has been served. After 11 years, I have been declared innocent of all the accusations orchestrated against me. They found nothing because there was nothing. There were 28 prosecutors, no evidence against me, and over a decade of judicial, political, and media persecution. Thanks to those who never doubted. The truth, although delayed, has finally arrived.»

Se hizo justicia. Después de 11 años, fui declarado inocente de todas las acusaciones que se orquestaron en mi contra. No encontraron nada, porque no había nada. Fueron 28 fiscales, ninguna prueba en mi contra y más de una década de persecución judicial, política y mediática.… pic.twitter.com/8f3Ij2fAbI

— Marco Enríquez-Ominami (@marcoporchile) October 22, 2025