Today, the Santiago Court of Appeals sentenced 10 former members of the Chilean army for burning two young men alive during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
On July 2, 1986, soldiers who were patrolling the streets for a national day of protest against the regime, intercepted and beat up fuel sprayers and set fire to Carmen Gloria Quintana and photographer Rodrigo Rojas.
Rojas died four days later, and Quintana survived despite suffering second and third degree burns to more than 60 percent of his body.
For this crime, known as the Quemados case, the court unanimously decided to increase the sentences for soldiers Julio Castaner, Ivan Figueroa, Nelson Medina and Pedro Fernandez Detos, as perpetrators, to 20 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Leonardo Riquelme, Walter Lara, Juan Ramon Gonzalez and Pedro Franco must serve 10 years in prison for being accomplices in the act, and Francisco Vazquez and Rene Muñoz three years for a cover-up.
The military condemnation had wide repercussions in the media and social networks, with users describing the event as historic.
During the Pinochet dictatorship, more than 40,000 cases of human rights violations were recorded in the country, including 3,065 murders and disappearances.
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