I was curious to find out what happened to John Cobin.
After serving a 6-year sentence for (superficially) wounding a manifestante, he’s written a book about his experiences in Jail.
In a country where some murderers obtain libertad condicional after serving 5 years, his sentence was unduly harsh, doubtless influenced by the anti-gringo and the leftist sentiments that came to the fore here during the estallido, even within the “establishment”.
Here’s a rather mediocre review of that book from Buscalibre
Book Review: “Carrying the Cross: Modules 118 and 109: American Political Prisoner Exposes the Abuses of the Chilean Prison System”
This book seems like fiction, but in reality, it contains nothing but true stories. It covers the details of prison experiences and unfair trials. You can find them in this book. In Chilean prisons, like hell, you never have a good day. However, those who have never experienced this type of incarceration can hardly imagine the cruel, inconsiderate, careless, and even barbaric treatment of prisoners confined in this “developed” OECD country. The book recounts the hellish experiences in Chile of a US-born immigrant who was unjustly imprisoned for attempted murder. The judges, with leftist biases, handed down a biased sentence in an oral trial, pushed, influenced, and driven by the overwhelmingly virulent national media. In Chile, self-defense is frowned upon, especially when the victim has a weapon that gives them a significant advantage over the assailant. Furthermore, natural rights are not equal in Chilean public policy; life is considered more important than liberty, and much more important than private property. This means, for example, that a man who defends his car or business with a shotgun will be charged with murder. In this book, you will learn how what would be a clear case of self-defense in many countries was transformed into frustrated and attempted homicide by a dishonest prosecutor and leftist lawyers accountable to no one. Like judges, prosecutors have arbitrary powers, as well as freedom of action, over the lives of the defendants before them. In this book, a year in the unbearable daily life in the Valparaíso penitentiary is described in vivid detail. The reader will be able to imagine themselves living in the deplorable and degrading circumstances endured by Chilean prisoners, while prosecutors, lawyers, experts, psychologists, and judges reap enormous profits. They profit from imprisoning criminals and, sometimes, largely or completely innocent people. The gendarmes also benefit; on the one hand, from the taxpayers who finance the expenses of the prisons where they work, and on the other, by clandestinely providing prohibited goods to prisoners at exorbitant prices. The biggest losers in this “business” are the hapless, quasi-enslaved convicts who find themselves incarcerated, their families or supporters, and the taxpayers who foot the bill for the Chilean criminal justice system. The vivid, real-life details of fighting, murder, humiliation, malnutrition, degeneration, and inhumane living conditions make this a book hard to put down!
Yes, Chilean jails are truly awful…as is the Justice system.
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