ARGENTINA: PROTESTS AGAINST FORMER DICTATOR JORGE VIDELA скачать в хорошем качестве

ARGENTINA: PROTESTS AGAINST FORMER DICTATOR JORGE VIDELA

(4 Sep 1998) Spanish/Nat A former Argentinean dictator has been testifying in the investigation of the fate of two guerrilla leaders who disappeared during the country's "Dirty War". It's the latest in a series of cases in which Jorge Videla and other junta leaders are being called to testify, as victims' relatives seek the truth about what happened to their loved ones. "Death to Videla and all the mass murderers", reads this placard - a reflection of the fury many Argentineans still feel about Jorge Videla and his fellow junta leaders. Protestors gathered outside the court house in the city of San Martin on Thursday in preparation for the arrival of the former dictator. Videla led the 1976 coup against the government of Isabel Peron which began seven years of military dictatorship. It was also the start of the "Dirty War", a brutal campaign against leftist guerrillas and suspected sympathisers which some human rights groups estimate killed 30-thousand people. He and other junta leaders were tried and sentenced for their crimes after democracy returned following the 1976-83 dictatorship. Like the few guerrilla leaders who survived, they were freed by an amnesty in 1989. But coup leaders like Videla and Emilio Massera are finding themselves back in court as witnesses, in a new spate of "Dirty War" cases, as victims' relatives seek the truth about what happened to their loved ones. Videla was recently convicted of stealing babies from "Dirty War" victims and sentenced to house arrest. The frail ex-officer arrived at the court in an ambulance to testify about the disappearance of Mario Roberto Santucho and Benito Urteaga, two leaders of the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP). They disappeared after a raid on their Buenos Aires hide-out, four months after the coup. The lawyer representing the family of one of the missing men said Videla told the judge he remembered the official communique informing him of the death of the two men. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) The only important thing that he recognised was that he signed the communique dated 20 of July where he was informed of the death of Santucho and Urteaga although afterwards he said he didn't remembered very well if he signed or who participated in the writing of the communique. Finally he said the communique was authentic and it looked like the one he remembered from 1976." SUPER CAPTION: Eduardo Barcesat, lawyer for family of Mario Roberto Santucho Videla was the army chief who led the coup against the government of Isabel Peron and became military junta leader. Former Navy officers have recounted in chilling detail how thousands of victims were drugged, stripped, put on planes and thrown to their deaths in the River Plate and Atlantic. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...