Former Argentine Investigator Sentenced To Life In Prison
Mary K. Brunskill - All Headline News Staff Writer Buenos Aires, Argentina (AHN) - A 77-year-old former police investigator accused of involvement with the disappearance of six people during the Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday. Prosecutors said Miguel Miguel Osvaldo Etchecolatz was a top collaborator of Ramon Camps, the late police chief of the Buenos Aires province who was allied with the military when the dictatorship started with a coup in 1976. In the late '70s and early '80s the dictatorship carried out what prosecutors called "a systematic crackdown on dissent." Many dissidents, labor leaders, intellectuals and other opponents of the regime were detained illegally during what is referred to as the "Dirty War." Close to 13,000 people are officially listed as killed or missing, but human rights groups say the number of deaths is actually around 30,000. During his final statement to the federal court Etchecolatz said, "They are going to convict me. They have no shame condemning an old, ailing man." Because amnesty laws were overturned last year, dozens more people who worked as police and state security agents during the period are facing prosecution.
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