. Military Space News .
TERROR WARS
French trial of Pinochet officials opens

by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Dec 8, 2010
Fourteen officials linked to the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's junta went on trial in absentia in Paris on Wednesday over the disappearance of four French citizens between 1973 and 1975.

The wives, children and brothers and sisters of the disappeared listened as the judge read out the names of the 13 Chileans and one Argentinian accused of kidnapping, arbitrary detention, torture and barbarous acts.

The 14 accused, most of whom were military officers during the Pinochet regime that lasted from 1973 to 1990, include Manuel Contreras, the former head of Chile'S Dina secret police.

Contreras is believed to have played a role in many of the 3,000 murders and disappearances in the "dirty war" against the left conducted during the Pinochet dictatorship.

He is currently serving life in a Chilean jail for assassinating the defence chief of leftist president Salvador Allende, who was toppled by Pinochet in a bloody US-backed coup in 1973.

The disappeared French are George Klein, who was a former advisor to Allende, a priest and two members of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR).

Pinochet was himself implicated in the disappearance of the four French citizens who vanished shortly after he came to power, but he died in 2006 without ever facing trial.

A verdict is expected on December 17. The accused, who are aged between 61 and 89, face life sentences if found guilty.

"It is important that those accused are convicted," Sophie Thonon, a lawyer for families taking a civil suit against the Chilean officials, said before the trial began.

"Of course, Chile does not extradite its nationals but Chile will be their prison and if they cross a border, they will be arrested," she said.

Hubert Pesle, the brother of Etienne Pesle, a former priest who disappeared in 1973 and who had been in charge of implementing Allende's rural reforms, said the families "need to finally have some elements of truth."

"We'd like to know what really happened," said the 88-year-old.

George Klein was arrested the day Pinochet's forces attacked Allende's presidential palace in the capital Santiago at the start of the coup.

Alphonse Chanfreau and Jean-Yves Claudet-Fernandez, the two members of the MIR, disappeared in 1974 and 1975 respectively.

"Their bodies were never found. The families were never able to mourn at their graves," said lawyer Thonon. "This trial is a way of accompanying them to a symbolic grave."

Claudet-Fernandez was detained in Argentina as part of Operation Condor, a programme in which Latin American intelligence agencies cooperated in the kidnapping of Chileans who had fled their country during the Pinochet regime.

The French trial is unusual in that the jury consists of three magistrates and is being filmed because of its "historical interest."

Wednesday's session was taken up with reading the charge sheet, with the individual disappearances to be examined on Thursday, ahead of witness testimony on Friday.

Pinochet died in December 2006 at a military hospital in Santiago, at the age of 91, after evading repeated attempts to bring him to trial.

Two weeks before his death, he took responsibility for actions committed under his rule, but never apologized for the suffering he caused.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
The Long War - Doctrine and Application



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


TERROR WARS
Al-Qaida still a danger in Saudi Arabia
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (UPI) Dec 6, 2010
Saudi Arabia's recent roundup of 149 al-Qaida suspects may have averted a series of planned attacks on government officials and military installations but also demonstrated how much of a danger the jihadists pose to the kingdom. The clandestine network consisted of at least 19 cells across the country, said Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Mansour al Turki, who announced the arrests Nov ... read more







TERROR WARS
US House votes for Israel missile defense aid

Emirates seek gulf-wide missile shield

First European Missile Successfully Carries Out Ballistic Intercept

Poland asked US about missile shield uses: WikiLeaks

TERROR WARS
Taiwan confirms mass producing cruise missiles

Russia to deliver S-300 missiles to Kazakhstan: official

Javelin Fired From Stryker Remote Weapon Station

Taiwan confirms mass producing cruise missiles

TERROR WARS
Fuel cell doubles UAV flight time

Boeing To Provide A160T Hummingbird Unmanned Aircraft For US Marine Corps

Critical Global Hawk Sensor Delivered To USAF

US drone attack kills five militants in Pakistan: officials

TERROR WARS
Arianespace Will Orbit Sicral 2 Milcomms Satellites

Codan Receives JITC Certification For 2110 HF Manpack

Northrop Grumman Bids for Marine Corps Common Aviation CnC

DSP Satellite System Celebrates 40 Years

TERROR WARS
Building Begins On Indian Navy's First P-8I Aircraft

Boeing Receives US Army Contract For Tactical Intelligence Aircraft

Boeing Begins Delivering Brigade Combat Team Modernization Capabilities To US Army

ASTAMIDS Proves It Can Detect IEDs From The Air In Near-Real Time

TERROR WARS
Austerity-hit EU states debate sharing military assets

BAE Systems plans to cut nearly 1,400 jobs in Britain

Bell Helicopter, Yemen sign chopper deal

Lula hands over jet fighter deal to Dilma

TERROR WARS
Gates to visit China next month: Mullen

Russia questions NATO sincerity after leaks: minister

Germany ready to share military duties with Europe: minister

Russia warns Poland against hosting US fighter jets

TERROR WARS
Joint High Power Solid State Laser Keeps Lasing And Lasing

Boeing Installing Beam Control System On HEL Laser Demonstrator

Maritime Laser System Shows Higher Lethality At Longer Ranges

Northrop Grumman To Increase Efficiency For Next-Gen Military Laser Technology


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement