MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Dutch pilot arrested on charges he flew “death flights” in Argentina

Drugged government opponents were thrown out of airplanes and helicopters during the “death flights”

Spanish authorities have arrested a pilot for Dutch airline Transavia.com on charges he flew “death flights” for Argentina's former military rulers, a Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The pilot, who holds Dutch and Argentine passports, was arrested on Tuesday night at the request of Argentina's government and is currently being detained, the spokesperson said.

Anita Sunter spokesperson for Transavia, owned by Air France-KLM, confirmed the arrest in the Spanish city of Valencia and said the pilot had flown there on Tuesday.

She declined to give his name or age or say how long he had worked for the airline, but said they had been in contact with him since the arrest.

“No indictment has been filed yet” said Anita Sunter.

Asked if the man's credentials had been checked before he had been hired, Transavia declined to comment. The spokeswoman said Transavia is “currently investigating its security- and background check policy for new staff”.

An Argentine government report says more than 11 000 people died or disappeared during the so-called “Dirty War”, a crackdown on leftists and other opponents of the military regime that ruled the South American country from 1976 to 1983.

Rights groups claim the number is closer to 30 000.

In 2005 Argentina's Supreme Court, at the urging of then-President Nestor Kirchner, struck down two amnesty laws that shielded hundreds of former officers from charges of human rights abuses during the dictatorship.

Courts have since issued a handful of severe prison sentences for members of the security forces -- many now elderly -- who were convicted of kidnapping, torturing and killing dissidents