MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Controversy over Lucía Topolansky's statements on false testimonies in crimes against humanity

Former President José 'Pepe' Mujica backed the statements made by Topolansky, his wife, to the press.

The former vice-president of Uruguay, Lucía Topolansky, generated a strong controversy when she affirmed that some people lied before Justice in cases investigating crimes against humanity committed during the civil-military dictatorship. Her statements, made in an interview for the book Los indomables, have been criticized by victims, prosecutors and human rights organizations.

“We know who are the ones who lied within the left, but we are not going to say it because we are not traitors or bellboys,” Topolansky maintained. According to the former vice-president, a colleague was pressured to incriminate a military officer, but refused to do so.

Former Uruguayan President José 'Pepe' Mujica supported the statements made by Topolansky, his wife, on the progress of the judicial investigations on crimes against humanity committed during the last civil-military dictatorship, between 1973 and 1985.

“I did not read the book or what Lucía said. And I don't read the books about us. It is very boring. Now, we are aware of those things. Yes. I'm not going to say it was generalized, but there were people who came out with a lot of rancor. And I found that was just what they went through. Not all of them, eh. But I know there were cases,” Mujica told the program Fácil Desviarse (FM del Sol).

The prosecutor specialized in crimes against humanity, Ricardo Perciballe, responded in a conversation with El País: “In the judicial cases what has been stated has not been confirmed at all. If someone has knowledge of a crime, he has the obligation to denounce it”.

For its part, the organization Mothers and Relatives of Detained and Disappeared Uruguayans issued a statement expressing its “utmost repudiation” of the statements, which, according to them, “undermine the legitimacy of the judicial processes and damage the republican system”. They also stated: “Who do these statements favor, and do they serve to question the credibility of the victims in favor of those who tortured, murdered and disappeared our relatives?

Meanwhile, the Military Center, represented by attorney Emilio Mikolic, announced that it will request the review of sentences based on witness statements, using Topolansky's statements as grounds.

The controversy reopens old wounds around memory, truth and justice in Uruguay, once again confronting sectors that seek to clarify the past with those who criticize the methods used to achieve it.