Buenos Aires, March 16 (NA) – The trial against Agostina Páez, the Argentine lawyer under house arrest in Brazil accused of three racial insults in a bar in mid-January, will begin on March 24, sources from the case confirmed to the Argentine News Agency. The first hearing in the trial against Páez will take place next Tuesday, March 24. During this session, the opening of evidence and trial will be held, where the prosecution and plaintiffs will present their conclusions. As it became known, the penalty for racial insult ranges from two to five years in prison, so if she is convicted on the maximum charges, she could receive 15 years in prison or six years, which is not subject to parole. The Argentine lawyer detained in Brazil 'is going to have to serve some kind of sentence.' 'There are no proofs in the file that confirm that there were three crimes, nor three victims at three different times with three different crimes,' had stated Carla Junqueira, one of Páez's lawyers, in dialogue with Radio Rivadavia. 'The Prosecutor's Office understands that there is, as proof, beyond the viral video, the testimony of the victims, a statement from a witness who is the bar manager and the video from inside the bar. They also consider that the statements are consistent with each other and the videos confirm the statements, therefore there is proof of a material contest of three crimes,' detailed the defender. In contrast, she explained: 'We as the defense understand that no, that beyond the statements of the victims and the video from outside the bar. The content of the interior of the place is absolutely inconclusive. There is no type of proof or image that can confirm crimes there.' In a video that the Argentine lawyer published on her social networks, she considered the incident as 'a very serious reaction' and added: 'That's why I want to apologize publicly, something I wanted to do before and, on the recommendation of my previous defense, I did not do it'.
