Police officers in Argentina who detained 31 people during a march against the disappearance of Santiago Maldonado last Friday in Buenos Aires are now under investigation.
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The country's Attorney General Office ordered them to testify after arresting dozens — including journalists, teachers and lawyers — at the city's historic Plaza de Mayo. They are being asked to explain the circumstances and reasons for their arrests.
Maria del Carmen Verdu of the Coordination Against Police and Institutional Repression said there were no logical reasons to detain the protesters. She said that the real purpose was "to cover up the provocation that was carried out to distort the enormous mobilization for the appearance of Santiago Maldonado."
"The judge himself has acknowledged that he has no elements to support the detention," Verdu added.
Verdu also said there were large inconsistencies with arrest records.
Prosecutor Ramiro Gonzalez has since ordered security footage from local businesses and news footage from television channels to be collected.
No es bueno mirar para otro lado cuando en tu país suceden estas cosas. Dónde esta Santiago Maldonado? pic.twitter.com/bQAyuR55tg
— Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) September 3, 2017
It is not good to look the other way when these things happen in your country. Where is Santiago Maldonado?
The police officers will need to provide a compiled 24-hour video of footage from the event. They will also be reviewed by doctors in order to establish what type of injuries they suffered and their degrees of severity.
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Former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said she called for authorities to investigate and clear the incidents to determine which officers "gassed, beat and arrested people" while masked and infiltrated in the march.
"On this occasion, civilian policemen disguised as demonstrators put on a vest and started a hunt for people and journalists," Kirchner said.
She posted a video of the clash on Friday, saying that images like this, of police repression, had not been seen in Argentina for decades.
Only 30 of the 31 detainees were released and one person was held, as police said they couldn't determine their nationality. They waited for hours to be investigated for alleged crimes of "public intimidation, attack and resistance to authority."
Argentine activist Santiago Maldonado disappeared on August 1 during a police raid.