Life imprisonment, provided for in the National Penal Code, is a sentence of deprivation of physical liberty that can last the entire life of the convicted person, without the possibility of parole or early release.
It was applied by two Argentine courts in February of this year, when they convicted the murderers of young Fernando Báez Sosa of qualified homicide: Máximo Thomsen, Enzo Comelli, Matías Benicelli, Blas Cinalli, Ayrton Viollaz, and Luciano, Ciro and Lucas Pertossi; and when another court did the same with Magdalena Espósito Valenti and Abigail Páez for having treacherously taken the life of the former’s son, Lucio Dupuy, 5 years old; and the latter, the woman’s partner, also for “sexual abuse with a phallic object.”
These judicial decisions, which can be appealed, were accompanied by the general approval of the indignant public opinion of our country, which is more than happy that these people “rot in jail.”
The only doubt that those of us who believe in forgiveness of others have is whether this would be possible, after sincere repentance and material and moral reparation to the victims, considering the perpetuity of the sentences. Because forgiving and receiving forgiveness can be a personal or collective decision that frees the offender from guilt and resentment.
Today’s culture, heavily influenced by the media, does not usually take this perspective into account, which is attributed more to a religious vision of life. “Every path towards hatred, revenge and resentment generates a certain inner slavery. They are passions that imprison us and prevent us from human fulfillment”, recalled Monsignor Jorge Casaretto.
But does freeing the condemned necessarily mean ending their stay in prison?
This is not necessary, since a large part of the repair is to comply with the penalty. One possibility of shortening the prison – which is not in sight at this time – would be by commuting the sentences, provided for in the National Constitution (article 99, 5) and in the provincial ones, and their replacement by weaker ones, decided by the president or the governor –depending on whether the court that sentenced is national or provincial–, with solid grounds, but without erasing the conviction for the commission of these serious crimes, nor their condition as criminals.
* Professor emeritus of the National and Catholic universities of Córdoba; former deputy of the Nation