Ex-President of Argentina Guilty of Murder, Torture : Gets Life for Role in ‘Dirty War’

Former President Jorge Videla was sentenced to life in prison today for his part in the abduction, torture and killing of up to 9,000 people who disappeared in the “dirty war” against leftist guerrillas.

Former Navy Commander Emilio Massera was also sentenced to life in prison.

Three other leaders of the two military juntas that formerly ruled Argentina also received stiff jail terms, but four were cleared of all charges.

The sentences were handed down by the Argentine Federal Appeals Court after an eight-month trial in which nearly 1,000 witnesses gave evidence against the nine military leaders, who ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1982.

‘Bounds of Law’ Cited’

“Repression should never have overstepped the bounds of law,” Court president Leon Arslanian said in reading the verdict. “Not one rule has been found to justify or excuse (the accused),” he said.

The third member of the junta that toppled then President Maria Estela Martinez de Peron in 1976, air force commander Orlando Agosti, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in jail and stripped of his military rank.

The leader of the second military junta, Gen. Roberto Viola, president of Argentina between March and December, 1981, was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Adm. Armando Lambruschini, navy commander from 1978 to 1981, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.

Brig. Gen. Omar Graffigna, air force commander from 1979 to 1981, the only one of the nine defendants at liberty during the trial and the sole accused who appeared in court today, was cleared of all charges.

Cleared of Charges

Former President General Leopoldo Galtieri, who ruled Argentina from December, 1981, until his ouster in June, 1982, following Argentina’s defeat in the Falklands war against Britain, was also found not guilty of all charges.

His fellow junta members, Navy commander Adm. Jorge Anaya and air force chief Brig. Gen. Basilio Lami Dozo were also cleared of all charges.

The trial of the nine former military commanders began April 22. They were accused of complicity in the disappearances of 709 people during the period of military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983.

The nine were charged with homicide, kidnaping, torture and falsification of documents. Although a federal commission determined that almost 9,000 people had disappeared in the so-called “dirty war” during military rule, evidence of only 709 cases was presented at trial.

The former military government defended the activities of the armed forces by saying it had to rid the country of guerrilla violence inspired by suspected leftists.

Raul Alfonsin, the civilian president who took office in December, 1983, ordered the trial despite fears it would provoke a backlash from the military and conservative elements.

Earlier today, the government lifted a seven-week-old state of siege. The emergency measure suspended many individual rights and gave police special powers to detain people without filing formal charges.

It was imposed Oct. 25 following a series of bomb attacks for which right-wing backers of the former junta were believed responsible.