On Thursday, the Tribunal Oral Federal 5 de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires sentenced multiple people involved in the Escuela de Mecánia de la Armada (ESMA) case. ESMA was the top clandestine detention center in Argentina during the last military dictatorship. It was the site of more than 800 crimes including torture, kidnapping, and murder.
This is the fourth case related to ESMA but the first time that these eight people are tried for their crimes. The case began in 2018 with 10 accused persons but only 8 sentences were handed down on Thursday. The remaining two accused were not sentenced as one passed away in 2019 and the other convinced the court to separate his case with a new trial expected to commence soon.
Two military officials and a police officer were sentenced to life in prison because of human rights violations. The court found that four others were accomplices and sentenced them to 15 years. Finally, one miliary man was sentenced to six years in prison because the court found he had only participated in the kidnapping of one person.
