MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, November 21st 2024 - 17:14 UTC

 

 

Chilean lawmaker arrested for alleged involvement in killing of activists in 1981

Friday, September 12th 2014 - 06:16 UTC
Full article 4 comments
Congressman (and former Army captain) Rosauro Martinez of the center-right Renovacion Nacional party was arrested in Valdivia Congressman (and former Army captain) Rosauro Martinez of the center-right Renovacion Nacional party was arrested in Valdivia

Forty-one years to the day after General Augusto Pinochet seized power in a military coup in Chile, a right-wing legislator was arrested for alleged involvement in the killing of three activists during the 17-year Pinochet dictatorship.

Congressman Rosauro Martinez of the center-right Renovacion Nacional party was arrested in the southern city of Valdivia in connection with the 1981 murder of the activists, who were opposed to the dictatorship, said Judge Emma Diaz Yevenes, who is in charge of the case.

Martinez, who had already been stripped of his congressional immunity, posted bail of 200,000 pesos (339 dollars).

Prosecutors allege Martinez, an army captain at the time, and three soldiers accompanying him fired on a house where the activists were hiding, killing all three.

“Chile needs more truth and more justice so we never live the horror of dictatorship again,” government spokesman Alvaro Elizalde said after a ceremony in Santiago commemorating the 41st anniversary of the Sept. 11, 1973 coup.

Pinochet died in 2006 at the age of 91. He never faced a full trial for crimes committed during his 1973-90 rule, during which an estimated 3,000 people were kidnapped and killed or disappeared, and 28,000 were tortured.
 

Categories: Politics, Chile.

Top Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules
  • Chicureo

    Yet the leftist terrorists who committed murder are let free...
    Just one example of many:
    http://santiagotimes.cl/former-leftist-guerrilla-convicted-killing-pinochet-ally/

    Sep 12th, 2014 - 12:31 pm 0
  • ChrisR

    This sort of time expired 'vengeance' is just what you get with the likes of Bachelet in charge.

    Why was it a problem with an Army captain firing on “activists”?

    We have the same problem in Uruguay with the illiterate, innumerate, murdering commie bastard who is now our president: what a wonderful example to all the young people in the country. His claim about inflation ‘it never bothered me’ must be seen in the light that he was robbing banks at gunpoint at the time.

    I have no idea why the people of SA seem to become imbeciles when politics is mentioned, preferring Marxist / communists / socialists over business lead parties. Perhaps it’s because they are idle buggers compared to workers in the western countries.

    Sep 13th, 2014 - 09:16 pm 0
  • Hepatia

    The Chilean government is to be congratulated for their support of the rule of law.

    Sep 14th, 2014 - 02:36 am 0
Read all comments

Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!