By: Tomas Ressa
35 years after the trial of the military dome, Mirada Critica takes a look at the events and the actors who were part of the most emblematic sentence in Argentine History. How the case developed, the well-remembered plea of prosecutor Strassera and the subsequent trajectory of the judges.
It was December 9, 1985. Our democratic system, battered after almost a decade of interruption of the constitutional order (1976-1983), was taking a step forward that would mark a before and after in Argentine society, as well as set a precedent at Latin American level: the Federal Court of Appeals of the Federal Capital recognized for the first time the existence of a systematic extermination plan and sentenced five of the nine commanders tried for crimes against humanity to members of the outgoing dictatorship.
Between April and August 1985, 833 people testified, among them survivors, relatives of the victims and repressors in what was known as «Cause 13».
Both Videla and Massera were sentenced to the maximum penalty (life imprisonment), while Viola, Agosti and Lambruschini received sentences ranging from 17 years to 4 years and 6 months. The others were acquitted.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces had first been in charge of the investigation but, due to the unjustified delay of the military justice system, the Federal Court of Appeals overruled the military court and continued with the investigation. Previously, Congress had passed Law 23.049 reforming the Code of Military Justice.
On December 9, 1985, the Court – composed of judges León Arslanián, Jorge Torlasco, Ricardo Gil Lavedra, Guillermo Ledesma, Jorge Valerga Aráoz and Andrés D’Alessio – issued a sentence based on 709 cases presented in the trial on illegal deprivation of liberty, torture and homicide, through an illegal system of repression that also sought impunity for these crimes.
The nine defendants were Armando Lambruschini, Leopoldo Galtieri, Orlando Agosti, Jorge Rafael Videla, Omar Graffigna, Jorge Anaya, Basilio Lami Dozo, Roberto Viola and Emilio Massera.
Both Videla and Massera were sentenced to the maximum penalty (life imprisonment), while Viola, Agosti and Lambruschini received sentences ranging from 17 years to 4 years and 6 months. The others were acquitted.
That was the beginning of a path that, 35 years later, can see its fruits in democratic matters: the Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes against Humanity reported as of September 15 of this year that 997 people were convicted and 162 acquitted in 246 trials for crimes against humanity. The justice process as of that date has reached 3329 people in almost six hundred court cases throughout the country.
The path of the protagonists
A separate point deserves the «after» of the magistrates who issued the historic sentence:
-León Arslanián: he went on to serve as Minister of Justice of the Nation (1989-1992); and as Minister of Justice and Security of the Province of Buenos Aires (1998-1999, 2004-2007).
-Ricardo Gil Lavedra: after being a member of the tribunal for the trial of the Military Juntas, Lavedra held the position of Deputy Minister of State of the Interior of the Nation between 1988 and 1989. He was Minister of Justice and Human Rights of the Nation (1999 and 2000) and National Deputy for the City of Buenos Aires (2009-2013).
-Guillermo Ledesma: after the historic sentence, in 1987 he resigned from his position as judge to devote himself to the private practice of his profession as lawyer, without holding political/judicial positions.
Jorge Valerga Aráoz: he was one of the first judges who opposed the «self-amnesty» law of the military who participated in the last military dictatorship. After the sentence, like several of his colleagues, he dedicated himself to practicing law on his own account.
-Jorge Torlasco: deceased on October 3, 2014, since his resignation as judge, Torlasco practiced law privately, together with his partner León Arslanián, who was his colleague in the Federal Court.
-Andrés D’Alessio: death found him in 2009, at the age of 68. D’Alessio was appointed as Attorney General of the Nation in 1987 and held such position until 1989. His colleagues in the tribunal in charge of the trial of the military juntas highlighted his importance when it came to agreeing on issues among the six judges.
