A human rights activist who says she was attacked and assaulted at her home earlier this month by supporters of President Javier Milei’s party has provided devastating details of the attack.
"They told me never to speak again; not to talk about my work, about human rights," alleged Sabrina Bölke, a member of the H.I.J.O.S human rights group.
She provided a detailed account of the alleged attack in a radio interview with El Destape on Monday, which she said had left her no longer feeling like herself. It took place at her home in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, after she returned home from work.
Bölke was attacked upon entry into her home. The assailants were waiting for her and allegedly attacked and abused her, declaring: "We did not come to rob you but to kill you, we’ve been paid to do that."
Before leaving, Bölke said they wrote a message, reading “VLLC” – a reference to “Viva la libertad, carajo,” Milei’s trademark political slogan.
“My life is now suspended, ever since March 5 I haven’t been the same person,” said Bölke, who works at the provincial branch of H.I.J.O.S. NGO.
She said the assailants “subdued” her, insulted and threatened her with a gun, and then “tortured” her for some 15 to 20 minutes.
“I’m in shock, I was told never to speak again,” she said.
No valuables were taken in the attack, though documents related to the NGO’s work were missing.
Bölke told how she found graffiti with libertarian connotations referencing her work that read “VLLC, Ñoqui” – a combination of Milei’s famous slogan and the word used in Argentina to refer to state employees who do not work..
“I return home from [Hospital] Pirovano and I find the graffiti in my room. They were in the flat for quite a while, because when we came back, we saw that they had broken things,” she said.
Bölke went on to criticise the Milei government, saying she didn’t know whether she is “protected by the state” and accusing the president of perpetrating “hate speech.”
The woman said she had no idea why she was targeted.
On the other hand, she said that after beating her and abusing her, the culprits told her “not to talk about this with anyone” and that next time they would come back to “shoot her in the head”.
“My salary is not enough for the basic basket, I’m a foot activist; I’m not an exposed person, I’ve never had any responsibilities. So when I went into my home, I thought it was a burglary – I didn’t even have money in my wallet,” said Bölke.
She said the attackers declared: “We know everything about you, that you’re with human rights. We’re not here to rob you, we’re here to kill you. And that’s when they pulled out their guns.”
Bölke also said that she was trying to “get back to a normal life” and think about how to move on.
“I have to consider how I’m going to be alone again, such as when I take the bus” home, she pondered.
“We never thought that something like this would happen to us in democracy,” said Bölke.
The shocking attack comes amid a politically tense climate due to the government's position on the 1976-1983 dictatorship, which human rights organisations and parties from the centre-left consider "denialist."
Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni said last week that the government expected “the courts to advance with the clarification so that those responsible pay for their actions.”
– TIMES/PERFIL
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