The Justice of Río Negro has granted house arrest to the only accused of the fires in El Bolsón. Nicolás Heredia, a 31-year-old man, was arrested after being seen with a bottle of flammable liquid in the area of the Río Azul. Both the Public Defender's Office and the Prosecutor's Office requested the lifting of the preventive detention, which will allow Heredia to face the judicial process from his home in Senillosa, Neuquén, where he resides.
The Guarantees judge, Juan Pablo Laurence, granted the benefit after accepting the request from lawyers Nelson Vigueras and Mónica Goye. During the hearing, Vigueras emphasized that his client was on vacation in El Bolsón and mentioned that the scientific tests conducted on the bottle found no incriminating fingerprints. He also pointed out that no remnants of the flammable liquid were found in the stains detected on Heredia's backpack.
For his part, the prosecutor of El Bolsón, Francisco Arrén, stated: "We conducted more than 15 interviews, requested actions from the police of Río Negro and Neuquén, fire department expertise, divisions of the Argentine Federal Police, with the sole aim of fulfilling our task." He added that there is no risk of the accused obstructing the investigation. Heredia must confirm his address at the nearest police station in Senillosa every 15 days.
The house arrest measure will be in effect until June 7, marking the end of the preliminary preparatory stage established at the beginning of the process.
