The Federal Oral Court of Jujuy (TOF) sentenced this Friday for crimes against humanity 19 repressors, including former chiefs and subordinates of national and provincial security forces, to sentences ranging from life imprisonment to five years in prison, in a trial in which 16 files were unified for crimes committed during the last military dictatorship at the Ledesma sugar mill and the “El Aguilar” mine.
The verdict of this oral and public process came after four years of hearings, in which at least 200 witnesses testified, who gave an account of the homicides, unlawful deprivation of liberty, torment and torture that were perpetrated in Jujuy in times of the terrorism of Condition.
In the prolonged debate that this cause had, for the first time in the judicial history of the province, cases of sexual abuse that were committed in the context of the systematic plan of annihilation and violation of human rights applied by the last dictatorship were also judged.
The reading of the sentence began shortly after 6:00 p.m., while a large number of members of Human Rights organizations and social groups followed the resolution of the debate on the outskirts of the judicial compound in the heart of the Jujuy capital shouting “murderers” and songs against the repressors.
the damned
The sentence of life imprisonment was imposed on the defendants Juan Carlos Jones Tamayo (former head of the Intelligence Center known as “Area 323”); José Américo Lescano (former police commissioner of Jujuy); Juan Carlos Lucero (former mayor and head of the Internal Security Section of the Villa Gorriti Prison) and Ceferino Narváez (former head of the External Security Guard of the Villa Gorriti Prison).
Meanwhile, the rest of the defendants, including former members of the Army, the Gendarmerie, the police and Jujuy prison service, received sentences of between 5 years and 25 years in prison, and only one of the defendants was acquitted for the benefit of the doubt.
This process was considered a “mega-cause because it contemplated the unification of 16 files and aired the humiliation to the detriment of workers who disappeared at the Ledesma sugar mill, El Aguilar Mine and others on illegal detentions and disappearances that occurred during the state terrorism that began in 1976 in the province .
Repercussions after the sentence
“We have to celebrate that we got a sentence after so many years of trial with different sentences for the defendants, including life imprisonment, 25 years in prison and some others that are very low,” said Paula Álvarez Carreras, plaintiff lawyer for the Télam. Secretary of Human Rights of the Nation, after knowing the verdict.
The legal advisor also highlighted that in this debate “the first conviction for sexual crimes was resolved – in relation to the sentence that fell on the accused Bernardo Salinas -, pointed out by the victims on repeated occasions,” she said.
On a stage set up in the central street of Jujuy that reflected the number 30,000 in allusion to those who disappeared during the last military dictatorship, Susana Pagliero, wife of Carlos Patrignani, a lawyer who disappeared at the Ledesma sugar mill, expressed her satisfaction after learning of the court’s decision.
“I completed my 30 years in prison. Today I am 75 years old and I feel accompanied by the struggle of all of you. 45 years have passed, but justice has arrived. When they released me from prison, they told me that my husband was dead and that if he I claimed, my family and his were going to disappear. They also threatened me saying that there was a bullet for me,” Susana recalled when speaking to the protesters.
In turn, Felipe Noguera, politically persecuted during the dictatorship, maintained that with this ruling “some justice was reaffirmed”, and called on young people to “continue fighting to obtain the remaining sentences.”
“I remember very well the repressor Juan Carlos Jones Tamayo when he told me that he was going to continue and all the political leaders were going to disappear. Here he is with life imprisonment and we are fighting for justice, ”he said.
Before the verdict was announced, the TOF made up of Federico Santiago Díaz, María Alejandra Cataldi and Abelardo Basbus, rejected the majority of requests for annulment put forward by the defense of the defendants, in the framework of the cases to the detriment of 140 victims.
Others who will have to serve sentences
Rafael Mariano Braga, Raúl José Borges Do Canto, Carlos Raúl Pérez, Rodolfo Oscar López, Armando Hugo Ruiz, Armando Hugo Claros, Bernardo Salinas, Ricardo Ortiz, Mario Marcelo Gutiérrez and Herminio Zárate must serve sentences of between 16 and 25 years in prison.
They are joined by Carlos Cachambe and Pedro Ríos, who received 11 and 6 years in prison respectively, while Virgilio Choffi was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Inés Roque Cari to 6 years in prison, Juan de la Cruz Kairuz 5 years in prison and Héctor Carballo was acquitted due to the benefit of the doubt, all the defendants followed the end of the debate by videoconference.
MPF representatives and defense attorneys
The representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) were Federico Zurueta and Marina Cura (auxiliary); the complaints were made by Paula Álvarez Carreras and Ariel Ruarte for the Secretary of Human Rights of the Nation, María José Castillo for the group Hijos-Jujuy; María Cecilia Calvo and Sergio Castro for María Villada; in addition to Andrea Lupiañez and Oscar Rodrígues for the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (APDH).
Finally, the defendants’ defense attorneys were: Ricardo Mario Vitellini for former Army officer Mariano Braga; Carlos Rodríguez Vega for the Ortiz brothers; Matías Perea served as official defender, as did Maximiliano Ponce and Soledad Jurado.
