Of the victims, 10 were arrested in neighboring countries as part of coordination between the repressive apparatuses of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, which were created in the last century with cooperation and funding from the United States.
According to Nelson Kokoto, a lawyer for many of the families affected by these crimes, this long-awaited ruling has satisfied those who have boundless patience and confidence in justice.
More often than not, he noted, victims were reached by the long criminal arm of DINA, Augusto Pinochet’s secret police, which extended beyond borders and disappeared or executed Chilean citizens.
The oppressors were convicted of the qualified kidnappings of Jorge Fuentes, Julio Valladares, Juan Hernandez, Manuel Tamayo, Luis Muñoz, Alexi Jaccard and Hector Velázquez; Ricardo Ramirez, Jacobo Stollman, Matilda Besa, Hernan Soto, and Reuter Correa were also killed.
The strongest sentences handed down by the Supreme Court fell on agents Miguel Krasnov, Gerardo Godoy, Gladys Calderon, Christophe Willecki, Raúl Iturriaga and Pedro Espinoza, who will serve periods ranging from 15 to 35 years in prison.
The country has thus become the continental vanguard in the fight against impunity, which has covered up the crimes of the dictatorship for more than 30 years, Cacuto told Radio Universidad de Chile.
The jurist added that they are provisions based on international law, and they are solid and progressive provisions because they reflect the increasing development of these rules.
Moreover, it is among the strictest decisions issued in this country against such serious crimes.
mem/car/im