The Board of Directors of the Military Center described the recent prosecution of Juan Modesto Rebollo as “an iniquitous, provocative and decadent act” and lamented that, almost 50 years after the events, “the false story over the historical truth” continues to prevail in Justice. in relation to a comrade who “risked his life trying to protect his subordinates from an unexpected attack.”
The organization reacted like this to the decision regarding Rebollo, considered co-author of the homicides of Diana Maidanic, Laura Raggio and Silvia Reyes, the “April Girls” assassinated in 1974 in an operation.
According to the account made by the military organization, on April 21 of that year, an Army patrol, in compliance with an order, carried out an operation to tend to members of the National Liberation Movement – Tupamaros (MLN). The center confirms its version that, when the troops were entering the home, “they were attacked from inside by rioters who fired their portable weapons and threw fragmentation grenades.”
It is indicated in these circumstances that then-Captain Julio Gutiérrez was wounded, being removed from the “direct reach of the enemy” by then-Lieutenant Colonel Rebollo, “who is also wounded in this heroic action.” Gutiérrez would die shortly after.
For the Military Center, the prosecution of Rebollo is part of a “common praxis in the judicial courts of our Republic”, which in its opinion are “controlled by an ideology that makes resentment, prejudice and contempt for the Armed Forces and the Constitution their only and holy guide to action”.
“Such an outrage cannot be allowed to pass by impassively,” announced that entity. “It is necessary for citizens to know in whose hands their rights are and what the institutions whose mission is to protect freedoms, dignity, the good of people and the values that have always impregnated our laws have become.” It also understands that there is no possible Republic where the State fails in its primary duties of safeguarding the integrity, rights and honor of its inhabitants, “and where the officials, instead of serving the rules that we have freely given ourselves, serve the foreign interests to those clearly established by our legal system”.
The Military Center reaffirmed that, in the events of the recent past, the Armed Forces “have served the Homeland with honor” and that they were called by the political power of the time “to protect it from the aggression of subversive groups moved by external forces.” .
“That is why the political system as a whole has to answer for these overflows that offend us all,” is assured. “It is the duty of the political system to assert the votes that it granted at the time in favor of the two amnesties that were given in the country and to demand respect for the two popular pronouncements that clearly supported the Expiration Law,” it adds.
The Military Center also pointed to the “clear responsibility” of a Judiciary that “has allowed itself to be assaulted by factions that use it to carry out not Justice, but a political plan of historical modification through lies and revenge.” In his opinion, the current government is also affected by the duty of truth and harmony, since it is evident that it does not lack legal instruments or representation to “Put a stop to this set of deviations that deeply hurt the fabric of the democratic system.”
“The military are not motivated by any position or chair,” he assures himself. “They will give their lives for a greater feeling, which is the freedom of the Nation and the Homeland.”
The Military Center expressed its appreciation to Rebollo, “a great soldier and a great person” who became Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Thus, he vowed to “fight for his rights.” The “unwavering determination” was also expressed to “not give up” in the face of the situation of the military and police “unfairly tried and imprisoned, for those who are alive and for those who agonized and died and prison.”
