April 19, 2005, 14:45 .
SABC
Spain's High Court today sentenced an Argentine former navy captain to 640 years in prison for crimes against humanity and torture committed during the "dirty war" of Argentina's 1976-83 military rule.
Adolfo Scilingo's case was the first war crimes trial held in Spain under laws allowing the prosecution of crimes committed in another country.
The court found Scilingo (58) guilty of "crimes against humanity" for 30 deaths as well as torture and illegal detention.
He received 30 terms of 21 years in jail for the deaths and five years for each of the other counts. However, under Spanish law he can serve no more than 30 years in prison.
Scilingo told a Spanish investigating magistrate and reporters in dozens of interviews that he helped pushed 30 drugged and naked prisoners out of a plane and into the sea but later retracted the story, calling it an elaborate lie.
Scilingo sat with his head bowed while the sentence was read and was then taken away by guards. A man in the gallery cried "murderer, rot in jail" after the sentence was read.
'New era of universal justice'
Malou Cerutti, whose husband and father disappeared in the "dirty war", was pleased with the ruling. "I am happy that this has been possible in Spain and that this will be the start of a new era of universal justice," she said outside the court.
Cerutti, with tears in her eyes, said she had felt peace, but also immense pain, as the judge detailed Scilingo's crimes. - Reuters
