CHILE: TOUGHER SENTENCES APPEALED FOR IN LETELIER MURDER CASE скачать в хорошем качестве

CHILE: TOUGHER SENTENCES APPEALED FOR IN LETELIER MURDER CASE

(26 Jan 1995) Spanish/Nat The sister of a slain Chilean foreign minister urged judges Thursday to impose a tougher sentence on his killers. Orlando Letelier was blown up by a car bomb in 1976. Two men, including the former head of Chile's secret police under the Pinochet dictatorship, were jailed in 1993 for between six and seven years. Now they're appealing against the sentence. But Letelier's sister says they should stay in jail for life. The Letelier case represents the country's painful struggle with a violent past that keeps returning. The trial also exemplifies the ability of existing Chilean institutions to punish the perpetrators of widespread human rights violations during the military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. During most of that period, General Manuel Contreras was the director of General Augusto Pinochet's feared secret police, the DINA. In 1993, he and his second in command, Brigadier Pedro Espinoza, were sentenced to seven and six years in prison, respectively, for masterminding Letelier's assassination. Letelier was killed on September 21st, 1976, when the car he was driving was blown up by a bomb in Washington, D.C. His companion, Ronni Moffitt, also perished in the attack. At the time, Letelier, who had served as foreign minister and ambassador to the US under the Salvador Allende government, was one of the toughest critics of the Pinochet dictatorship. Now, with the military establishment closely following the trial, the defence lawyers requested the acquittal of both officers. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "Por las razones expuestas solicito que se acoja la apelacion .... y se revoque dicha sentencia absolviendose al General Contreras de toda responsabilidad en la muerte de Orlando Letelier". (Translation) "For the reasons outlined I request the appeal be ....and for the sentence to be revoked absolving General Contreras from all responsibility in the death of Orlando Letelier" SUPER CAPTION: Sergio Miranda Carrington - General Contreras' defence lawyer But Fabiola Letelier, the murdered foreign minister's sister and the family's lawyer asked the court to sentence both Contreras and Espinoza to life in prison. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "Por lo tanto pido sentencia justa, condenatoria, efectiva, para los condenados Contreras y Espinoza". (Translation) "Therefore I ask for a guilty verdict and a sentence which is fair and effective for the accused Contreras and Espinoza". SUPER CAPTION: Fabiola Letelier - sister of Orlando Letelier SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "Yo fundamentalmente espero que haya una sentencia condenatoria de parte de los Ministros de la corte suprema que se traduzca en una pena efectiva, real, ejempladizadora. Porque te reitero estamos en presencia de un acto terrorista internacional que esta absolutamente probado". (Translation) "I essentially hope that there is a prison sentence delivered by the judges in the Supreme Court which translates into an effective sentence, real and exemplifying. Because I reiterate we are talking about an international act of terrorism which is absolutely proven". SUPER CAPTION: Fabiola Letelier - sister of Orlando Letelier SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) (Translation) SUPER CAPTION: Fabiola Letelier - sister of Orlando Letelier SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Es que la memoria colectiva de este pais quiere que se castigue a la DINA. Y la unica posibilidad que se tiene es este proceso". (Translation) "This country's collective memory wants the DINA to be punished. And the only possibility that exists is this court case". 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...