Americas News

Spanish court raises jail term of Argentine "dirty war" officer

Jul 4, 2007, 13:07 GMT

Madrid - Spain's Supreme Court has raised the prison sentence handed to Argentine former naval officer Adolfo Scilingo for human rights violations from 640 to 1,084 years, judicial sources said Wednesday. The National Court had sentenced Scilingo to 640 years in April 2005, finding him guilty of helping to drug 30 dissidents and to throw them out of aircraft in Argentina's 1976-83 military rulers' 'dirty war' against the opposition. The Supreme Court, however, found Scilingo guilty of crimes not mentioned in the original sentence, and increased the penalty to 1,084 years. In practice, Scilingo will not need to serve more than 25 years. Scilingo had initially come to Spain to testify against the former military dictatorships in Argentina and Chile. His trial was the first time an Argentine human rights violator had been judged in another country while present. Human rights groups say up to 30,000 people were killed in Argentina between 1976 and 1983. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Americas News

Spanish court raises jail term of Argentine "dirty war" officer

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