MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former Argentine Army officer arrested for a crime dating back to 1976

Former Argentine Army officer Cialceta, was hiding in a closet

Former Argentine Army officer Carlos Cialceta, prosecuted for a crime against humanity committed in 1976, has been captured in the city of Salta during a Gendarmería Nacional (Border Guard) raid. The fugitive was hiding in a closet.

Security Minister Aníbal Fernández made the announcement Friday morning through his Twitter account.

The retired Army Lieutenant Colonel was sought by judicial authorities for kidnapping, torture, and murder committed in 1976 when he was serving at the Infantry Regiment in Tartagal.

Cialceta was placed in custody at Gendarmería Nacional barracks in the area.

A warrant for his arrest had been issued April 12 by Federal Judge Mariela Giménez, who granted the prosecution's request to place the accused under preventive arrest.

Cialceta's partner had declared the defendant no longer lived there and that his whereabouts were unknown. But seven months later authorities were tipped off by someone who requested their identity be protected as to the possible hideout of the fugitive.

“Taking into account the historical context in which the investigated events occurred, it is uncontested that the Monte 28 Infantry Regiment, based in Tartagal, participated in the so-called fight against subversion, its highest authority in the chain of command - General Héctor Ríos Ereñú - having been condemned as the mediate perpetrator of the kidnapping and subsequent murder of René Santillán,...,” the judicial documents read.

The prosecution believes the defendant had used the state structure for the purposes of committing crimes that ”by their entity are considered against humanity” and “given the magnitude of the possible sentence” the defendant effectively posed a flight risk.