They acquitted “Higui”, the woman he killed to defend herself against a gang rape

Eva Analia “Higui” de Jesús was acquitted this Thursday afternoon in the trial in which she arrived accused of killing a man defending herself against a gang rape that occurred in 2016 in the Buenos Aires town of Bella Vista. The verdict was released by the Oral Criminal Court No. 7 of San Martín, after the Prosecutor's Office requested 10 years in prison for “simple homicide” and the defense the acquittal of this 47-year-old lesbian.

“They acquitted ¡Higui!” , tweeted Indiana Guereño, lawyer and president of the Criminal Thought Association, present in the room. After more than three hours of hearing, during which four witnesses paraded and the accused herself gave a statement, judges Gustavo Varvello, Germán Saint Martin and Julián Descalzo decided to advance the allegations and verdict, initially scheduled for next Tuesday.

As a result, the demonstrators who have been keeping Balbin Avenue cut off to 1700 for three days, in front of the courts to demand the acquittal of this cartonera and footballer, strengthened their presence in the place so that the cry of “I would also defend myself as Higui” could be heard louder.

Before the allegations, on the third day of the trial, a policewoman who assisted Higui at the scene and at the police station, had stated three experts — two officers and one on the part — and the accused herself, who asked to use her right to proclaim her innocence. “I wanted to declare, I really wanted to do it. I feel better,” he told the agency of the civil association Presentes after speaking to the court for a little less than an hour, to reiterate his version of events.

The last testimonial statement of the day was the one given by psychiatrist expert Enrique Stol to, known for his anti-patriarchal activism and for having been the psychiatrist of the two young men who brought to trial for abuse and won the conviction of priest Julio César Grassi. official experts and party agreed on the existence of post-traumatic stress in Higui,” Stola said in a dialogue with the Telam agency from Spain, after participating in the trial by video call.

“I think the Prosecutor's Office wanted to show that this was the result of different traumatic events that Higui had throughout his life, and not because of this particular attack, but what I pointed out is that, although it is true that all of them have produced post-traumatic stress, the symptomatology at the time of the evaluation had something to do with with the latter because the flashbacks, the scenes that appeared to him, the anguishes, nightmares were all related to the moment of the attack,” he added.

Stola, who participated during the investigation of the case as a party expert when Higui's defense was exercised by Raquel Hermida Leyenda, explained that “for post-traumatic stress to be constituted, the person must feel that they are facing the possibility of death, being sexually assaulted or have serious injuries”, and in the case of attack in question would have occurred two of these elements, “although only one is enough because they are situations that produce such emotional, psychological, affective shock that impacts the body and psychism producing that stress”.

“What I did was to substantiate that the stress is due to the aggression she received and that if she had just wanted to take revenge and kill and did it, she would surely be guilty, because she is not a psychopath, and she would feel depressed that she had done it, but she would not have post-traumatic stress. If she does, it's because she was attacked,” she concluded.

On the other hand, and as the Telam agency was able to rebuild through judicial sources, a policewoman had earlier testified during her statement to the extent of the beatings that Higui had received during the attack. This is an agent who was at the scene of the events as soon as they happened and also in the police station next to the victim.

“That policeman said that she was badly beaten and that they went to the cell every now and then to see her so that she would not convulse or to check that it was not broken. This is very important because it validates Higui's story,” said the sources.

During the days of the trial, seven friends and relatives of Cristian Espósito (28) —the dead man—testified, including the other Higui attacker —named Sandro—who also did so as a witness. On the other hand, the forensic expert offered details of how the only stab wound that was fatal occurred, which deny what was assured to the press by the deceased's family: the blade entered from the front at the height of the heart and not in the back, as yesterday described by the victim's mother and which could lead to suspicion of a treacherous attack.

At the request of the defense, the lawyer Claudia Spatacco, her psychologist Raquel Disenfeld, her sisters Taty and Mariana, a neighbor and the expert psychiatrist from Parte Stola, testified. In addition to the parties, Thursday's hearing was also attended by the director of protection of the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity, Romina Chiesa; the overseer of the Ministry of Justice of the Province of Buenos Aires, Indiana Guereño; the activist of the lesbian organization Las Safinas Viviana Figueroa; and psychologist from Higui, Rachel Disenfeld.

Two years behind the first trial date, Higui came to trial on charges of “simple homicide” for defending herself against corrective group rape on October 16, 2016 in Lomas de Mariló, a vulnerable neighborhood in Bella Vista where she had visited her sister for Mother's Day.

And even though she reported an attempted gang rape and was found vanished at the scene, with trauma to different parts of her body, pants and underwear torn, the attack was never investigated as such. After eight months in prison, the San Martín Chamber of Appeals granted him extraordinary release thanks to a strong mobilization to demand his freedom.

This Thursday, after the acquittal was announced, the videos of the celebrations and the joy of Higui were followed on social networks.

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