Below is an article published by The Santiago times:

Chile’s Supreme Court acquitted Mijael Carbone of attempted murder of a police officer Wednesday, bringing to a close a lengthy process in which Carbone spent months as a fugitive after a previous guilty verdict. 

Carbone, and indigenous Mapuche, was accused of attempted homicide of a police officer and possession of stolen goods. The accusation came after an anti-theft police unit conducted an operation in the autonomous Mapuche community of Temucuicui in May 2011. Carbone was found guilty but fled before his court ruling was announced in August 2012. He argued the decision was racist and that his imprisonment was a result of government trying to weaken the Mapuche movement. 

While in hiding, Carbone and his defense team fought for a retrial, which the Supreme Court granted on Dec. 12. The resolution cited the prosecution’s reliance on incomplete physical descriptions as well as the exclusion of other arguments and evidence as the basis for the retrial.

On Wednesday, the court announced there was evidence that a crime occurred, but it was “too weak to support the participation of the accused in the criminal act, lacking sufficient strength, seriousness and precision to overturn the presumption of innocence." 

In an interview with CNN Chile, Carbone said he is “very happy” with the result of this last trial, adding that his team had been consistently prepared to fight for his freedom. 

“When the accusations were made, we said it was a setup and we would prove it,” Carbone said. 

Carbone also said he believes the government has been pushing his and other similar cases against Mapuche leaders forward for political reasons. 

“[Interior Minister Andrés] Chadwick, [former Interior Minister Rodrigo] Hinzpeter, [Intendant] Andrés Molina and [Governor] Eric Baumann, who are all in the government right now, spoke out strongly against me,” Carbone said. “[They are trying to] discredit and to shift attention from the returning of land to the Mapuche people.”

Chadwick has also taken a strong public interest in other Mapuche cases, including the current case against Emilio Berkhoff, calling the courts “soft on crime” when they originally released him on bail.

The District Attorney for the Araucanía Region, Cristián Paredes, defended the efforts of the prosecution when speaking to the press after the court’s announcement.

“The Prosecutor's Office, in working toward a conviction, conducted their work in a responsible and serious manner,” Paredes said.

Carbone said he and his team will explore what legal options they have to seek compensation now that he has been found not guilty..