MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan court sentences Iranian traveling on a fake passport to 3 months in jail

In a separate court ruling, two former military officers were convicted of crimes against humanity

An Iranian citizen has been sentenced to three months in prison in Uruguay for entering the country with a fake Israeli passport. The man had previously been deported from El Salvador, where he also used the forged document.

The case raised concerns within the Uruguayan government, prompting President Yamandú Orsi to brief political leaders about the situation due to the international tensions between Iran and Israel. Although authorities are on alert, they have stated there is no information to suggest the presence of terrorist cells in the country.

The defendant is held at the Punta de Rieles prison after a plea bargain deal with Prosecutor Graciela Peraza, who deemed the case closed.

In a separate judiciary development, retired military officers Héctor Rombys and Arquímedes Maciel were sentenced to 24 years in prison for the murder of activist Luis Batalla in May 1972. Batalla was a member of the Christian Democratic Party who was kidnapped and tortured for four days, dying from a ruptured liver.

Judge Verónica Pena's ruling found Rombys and Maciel guilty of aggravated homicide, abuse of authority, and deprivation of liberty, rejecting their claims that they were not involved in the torture. The case was previously closed in 1988 under an expiry law, but was reopened in 2013 by Prosecutor Ricardo Perciballe, specializing in crimes against humanity.

The 27th criminal court magistrate rejected the arguments of Rombys' defense, who admitted in statements to the court that he participated in the interrogations of militants in the battalion, but said that he did not participate in the torture that led to Batalla's death. The judge pointed out that, based on the testimony given by victims of state terrorism, other military personnel, and other evidence gathered in the criminal investigation, “it can reasonably be concluded that they were present at the interrogation.”

Batalla, 32, was arrested on May 20, 1972, and transferred to Infantry Battalion 10, where he was tortured for four days until his death. The criminal investigation determined that the unit's S2, Captain Rombys, and the investigating judge, Héctor da Rosa, participated in the interrogations and torture, ”with the supervision and sometimes direct participation of external officers Captain Antonio Mato (now a fugitive), Major Washington Perdomo (now deceased), belonging to the SID, and Major Arquímedes Maciel for OCOA IV.” On the day he died, Batalla was tortured by Mato and Perdomo in the troop casino and left standing in the parade ground, where he collapsed. The autopsy determined that the cause of death was acute anemia caused by traumatic rupture of the liver.