Chilean judge dismisses police case against feminist singers

SANTIAGO: A Chilean court on Monday dismissed a case brought by the military police against a group of feminist singers over a performance of a song that has become a global anthem against sexual violence.

The Carabineros military police had accused the four women of "inciting violence" for having shared a video in which they performed "A Rapist in your Path" in front of a police station.

But judge Ingrid Alveal in the city of Valparaiso -- 120 kilometers (80 miles) west of the capital Santiago -- ruled that there was no link between the feminist group and any subsequent violence inflicted on police.

In the video the four women appeared in the traditional red dungarees and face masks worn by the LasTesis group while a woman's voice can be heard making accusations against the Carabineros.

"They persecute us, block the exits from our homes, provoke, infiltrate as protesters and start burning everything," the woman says in the video that was shared on social media.

It goes on to accuse the military police of "firing tear gas, striking, torturing, raping, destroying (and) blinding us" and calls for the police to be burned.

The case brought by the Carabineros last June claimed that "it's clear the appeal in question, intends to create intentional ill will" towards the military police.

The four singers -- Paula Cometa, Lea Caceres, Sibila Sotomayor and Dafne Valdes -- said on their Instagram account that they hoped the decision would ensure that artists would never "face a legal process over the content of their works."

In September, US magazine Time named LasTesis in its 100 most important figures for 2020.