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Alfredo Astiz |
"Hoy es un día de vergüenza para los argentinos y la humanidad."
("Today is a day of shame for the Argentines and the humanity.")
- Christina Kirschner,
President of Argentina
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Alfredo Astiz (left), Jorge "El Tigre" Acosta (right) |
Some of Argentina's most notorious human rights abusers are to be freed, according to a ruling today. The ['alleged'] perpetrators have spent more than two years in jail without being convicted of a crime.
Those among the dozen or so military members to be liberated are Alfredo Astiz, who befriended the original Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo under cover before betraying them to the junta authorities, and Jorge "El Tigre" Acosta, an ESMA torturer.
I can understand the justification for this, seeing as holding unconvicted people for inordinately long amounts of time is not really acceptable - but the bigger question is clearly why they were allowed to enjoy their liberty for so long already, and why the trials drag on for such periods. If these people had been efficiently processed at the end of the dictatorship, they would now be nearing the end of 25 year prison terms. As it is, they have yet to fully pay for their crimes.
Astiz y "El Tigre" Acosta podran queder en libertad(Pagina/12)
Ordenan la liberacion de Astiz, el Tigre Acosta y otros represores de la ESMA(Clarin)
Varios represores de la ESMA podran recuperar libartad bajo caucion(Critica)
Source: Memory in Latin America
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Inca Kola News
December 19, 2008
Only in Argentina!
Disgusting news out of Argentina last night.
Twenty of the worst pieces of shit that were responsible for the disappearances and hundreds (even thousands) of people via the infamous ESMA building during the military dictatorship have been ordered free.
Why? Well this is the disgusting bit; The judiciary has ruled that time is up for pre-trial custody. These people have over 800 cases to answer for, but not one of them has been moved forward sufficiently by Argentina's congress to make it to trial as yet. So the judiciary blames congress, and congress blames judiciary and the flotsam and jetsam of this world get out of jail. In the case of the most famous of the lot, Alfredo Astiz, he's been in jail since 2003 but not one case has been brought against him yet. This is worse than ridiculous. To give you an idea of the calibre of the man Astiz in a context that gringos might understand better, British war veterans of the Falklands/Malvinas conflict remember him as the guy who ordered his troops to fly white flags at Goose Green then, when the British soldiers got close enough, ordered the same soldiers to open fire. As for his exploits during the disappearances, as well as being one of the head torturers at ESMA he was the guy who condemned two French nuns to death during his undercover work, the signal for those watching being a kiss on the cheek of the nuns. Crud like Astiz, "El Tigre" Acosta and all the others should rot in jail forever, but because of the laxity and collusion from passive friends-in-high-places he'll now walk free.
http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2008/12/only-in-argentina.html