---

We the undersigned – British, European and American academics – are concerned about the arbitrary detention by the Argentinian government of Milagro Sala. Milagro is a parliamentary member of Parlasur (the Mercosur parliament in Latin America) and a community leader of the social neighbourhood organisation Tupac Amaru, which has worked to provide housing, healthcare and education for the local community in the province of Jujuy in Argentina. Tupac Amaru has been internationally celebrated as a model for grassroots social action.

Amnesty International considers “that Milagro Sala is being criminalised for peacefully exercising her rights to freedom of expression and protest” and, along with other human rights groups, have called for the granting of precautionary measures to guarantee the liberty of Milagro Sala, along with the exercise of freedom of expression and the right to social protest in Argentina.

We believe that Milagro Sala’s arrest is politically motivated. She was initially arrested for peacefully protesting, but subsequently she has been accused of additional crimes – sedition, fraud, publicly instigating criminal activity, belonging to an illegal association – all of which serve to keep her in prison.

We demand her immediate release; we also call for the Argentinian government not to criminalise social protest and to guarantee a constitutional, transparent legal process.

Professor Chantal Mouffe Westminster University, UK

Professor Slavoj Žižek University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Dr Mark Devenney University of Brighton, UK

Etienne Balibar Paris West University Nanterre, France

Davide Tarizzo University of Salerno, Italy

Professor Joan Copjec Brown University, US

Professor Giacomo Marramao Roma Tre University, Italy

Professor Bruno Bosteels Cornell University, US

Professor Yannis Stavrakakis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Professor Oliver Marchart University of Vienna, Austria

Professor Lisa Disch University of Michigan, US

Professor Rada Ivecovic International College of Philosophy, France

Professor José Luis Villacañas Complutense University of Madrid, Spain

Dr Anthony Leaker University of Brighton, UK

Dr Clare Woodford University of Brighton, UK

Professor Sam Chambers Johns Hopkins University, US

Dr Jeremy Valentine Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK

Professor Todd May Clemson University, US

Professor Fernando Castro Flórez Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain

Dr Allan Dreyer Hansen Roskilde University, Denmark

Professor Germán Cano University of Alcalá, Spain

Dr José Enrique Ema University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain

Professor Fernando Broncano Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain

Professor Miguel Cereceda Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain

Professor Jodi Dean Hobart-William Smith Colleges, US

Professor Jorge Riechmann Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain

Professor Alan Finlayson University of East Anglia, UK

Dr Alexandros Kioupkiolos Aristotle University, Greece

Dr Lasse Thomassen Queen Mary University of London, UK

Dr Emilia Palonen University of Helsinki, Finland

Dr Rebecca Searle University of Brighton, UK

Timothy Huzar University of Brighton, UK

Dr Joanna Kellond University of Brighton, UK

Anna Rajala University of Brighton, UK

Timo Uotinen Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Andrea Garcia Gonzalez University of Brighton, UK

Dr Félix Díaz University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Marina Montoto Ugarte Complutense University of Madrid, Spain

Dr Miguel Álvarez University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain

Dr Robin Dunford University of Brighton, UK

Dr Tom Bunyard University of Brighton, UK

Arthur Borriello Free University of Brussels, Belgium

Professor Saul Newman Goldsmiths University of London, UK

Samuele Mazzolini University of Essex, UK

Professor Edmundo Paz Soldán Cornell University, US

Dr Liliana Colanzi Cornell University, US

Dr Ernesto Castro Complutense University of Madrid, Spain

Dr Gonzalo Velasco Camilo José Cela University, Madrid, Spain

Professor Linda Zerilli University of Chicago, US

Dr José Angel Rodríguez Ribas University of Wales (EADE), Málaga, Spain

Professor Manuel Montalbán Peregrín Málaga University, Spain

Dr Giorgos Katsambekis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Professor José Ordónñez Seville University, Spain

Meghan Sutherland University of Toronto, Canada

Dr Cartsen Jensen Roskilde University, Denmark

Professor Laura Domínguez de La Rosa Málaga University, Spain

Dr Lucía Bodas Fernández Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain

Jelica Sumic Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Science and Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Rado Riha Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Science and Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia

---