JURIST - Paper Chase: Chile court indicts retired navy officers for Pinochet-era killing of priest

[JURIST] A Chilean court indicted five navy officers and a navy doctor Friday for their role in the kidnapping, torture, and killings of British-Chilean priest Micheal Woodward [profile] and other political dissidents. Retired admirals Sergio Barros, Guillermo Aldoney and Adolfo Walbaum and retired navy captains Sergio Barra and Ricardo Riesgo, were all indicted on kidnapping and torture charges and are being held at military barracks in Valparaiso. Carlos Costa, a navy doctor, was also charged. According to Judge Eliana Quezada, all men are maintaining their innocence.

Woodward, who had joined Christians for Socialism after being suspended by the Roman Catholic church, was taken into custody by security forces on September 16, 1973, shortly after the military coup against Chilean Socialist president Salvador Allende that brought General Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archive] to power. He was alleged to have been tortured, along with other dissidents, aboard naval ships used as detention centers. He died six days later, and his family was told that he died of cardio-respiratory problems. The indictments follow the sentencing [JURIST report] of Pinochet's secret police chief earlier this week for his role in the 1974 disappearance of a political dissident. Over 3000 people are said to have been killed for political reasons during the Pinochet regime. AP has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...