First judge convicted for dictatorship era crimes in Argentina [View all]

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Luciana Bertoia
Buenos Aires Herald
June 13, 2015

The Province of Tucumán was a witness to history yesterday when Manlio Torcuato Martínez became the first judge to be sentenced for crimes committed during the state-terror era. Family members of victims wept with relief after the verdict of 16 years in prison was read in court.

Martínez was found guilty of abuse of power, failing to comply with the obligation to prosecute crimes and the cover-up of the murder of María Alejandra Niklison, Fernando Saavedra, Eduardo González Paz, Juan Carlos Meneses, and Atilio Brandsen in what is known as the massacre of Azcuénaga Street.

In 2011, Gen. Luciano Benjamín Menéndez, the former head of the Third Army Corps — who commanded the repression in 10 northern provinces, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of the five activists who were part of Montoneros, a Peronist left-wing organization. Now, the court analyzed Martínez’s role in the case and also convicted him for fabricating a case against Miguel Atilio Romano, who was the owner of the house where the activists were murdered by the armed forces on May 20, 1976.

Human rights organizations and family members of victims celebrated outside the courtroom. “A ruling like this was unthinkable several years ago,” federal prosecutor Agustín Chit told the Herald yesterday. The Attorney General’s Office had requested to sentence Martínez to 25 years; but, though the penalty was more lenient, they praised the judges’ decision.

Martínez became judge in 1975 and retired in 1983. “He started working when the Operation Independence was launched and left when democracy returned to the country. He played a key role during the state terror era,” Chit said yesterday.

In 1975, President María Estela Martínez de Perón deployed troops in Tucumán to “annihilate” the guerrilla groups that were carrying out activities in that province. Operation Independence set the basis for the repression that would be unleashed by the dictatorship between 1976 and 1983.

Martínez was mentioned in Tucumán’s Never Again report in 1984 for his role in the darkest years of the military regime.

At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/191495/first-judge-convicted-for-dictatorship-era-crimes