Empty chairs with slogans “tell us where they are” in the front row of the audience and the faces of the missing carried by the audience in the room was the tone that was set yesterday the first day of investigations of former federal prosecutor Víctor Ortiz and former judge Pedro Duarte, in the trial for crimes against humanity.
The investigation was interrupted by Duarte, who asked to continue on another day.
Neither Duarte nor Ortiz accepted questions. The resumption of the trial was the subject of a harsh exchange between the president of the debate, Alejandro Silva and federal prosecutor Miguel Angel Palazzani.
Duarte may continue filing on or before July 29, according to the agenda that the Federal Oral Court manages to make compatible, made up of 3 members who are from different jurisdictions, with different judicial recess dates.
Duarte and Ortiz are accused of judicial action during the dictatorship, when relatives asked that they intervene for their daughters and sons who disappeared after the kidnapping.
“There is no specific charge, the files are there, there are no omissions. Despite the cases I promoted, there were no positive results.”Ortiz defended himself, calling one of the last witnesses a liar. The plaintiff Marcelo Medrano recalled that the victim located him at the place of the torture (delegation of the Federal Police) and from there even Ortiz’s attempt to have him called again.
“We oppose the re-victimization of a victim-witness, It is suffering and pain to remember here again and we are going to take care of him, we reject his being summoned“, held.
Duarte began his statement with questions about the instruction and claims for expertise that was not granted to him.
His investigation lasted about 6 months in the instruction before the trial and at 87 years of age, of notable lucidity, he was allowed to take the breaks he demanded to resume his meticulous defense. He said that by March 24, 1976 he was no longer an Army auditor, although his signature is in the Command’s proceedings, as he had not reached the stage where he intervened in the habeas corpus for the disappeared when their relatives searched for them after the kidnapping.
“There were civilians who supported and benefited from the dictatorship; Duarte is an honorary member of the rural society and many of the titles with which we are litigating are from the dictatorship; This must be unraveled and the principle is what is discussed here,” said Lef Nawel, werken of the Mapuche Confederation, present at the hearing.
- 10-20-2023
- Start of hearings at the AMUC headquarters of the Federal Oral Court
- 03-11-2023
- First Investigation of Pedro Duarte and Victor Ortiz, federal judge and prosecutor during the dictatorship, the only defendants in this trial
In the key dates of this trial, it is added that on March 27 and May 29 and 30 of this year, ocular inspections at the clandestine center “La Escuelita”, to the former U9 and the former Duarte court in Neuquén.
