Judge Isaura Tórtora ordered the prosecution for a crime of covering up the murder of López, which occurred after torture suffered in Artillery Group 1, in Cerro, this capital, in January 1976.
Scaffo was the second chief of that military unit and, although he was not present at the time of the crime, there are elements of his participation in maneuvers to cover it up.
In this regard, he acknowledged that after the death of Julian López, a report from the Military Hospital stated that the victim’s body showed signs of torture.
However, in the testimony of the military file it is stated that the death was due “to an accident when he fell from the top of a ladder or to an alleged suicide.”
Judge Tórtora pointed out that “in the official version a staging was carried out,” while military testimonies from the time indicate that there was an order from superiors to stage that version to hide the death due to torture, according to the media La Diaria.
In 2011, forensic examinations were carried out that confirmed that the cause of death was “acute hemorrhage due to multiple trauma.”
Basilicio López had joined the Communist Party in 1961 and had an active participation in the 1962 transport strike as leader of the National Union of Transport Workers of the National Workers Convention.
He was arrested on December 31, 1975 and transferred to the 1st Artillery Battalion of La Paloma in El Cerro.
According to the investigation, around 1:30 on January 5, 1976, after being taken to the “interrogation room,” he was tortured and died as a result of the blows received.
The crime was part of Operation Morgan, perpetrated starting in October 1975 by the Coordinating Body of Antisubversive Operations and directed in a first stage at the members of the Central Committee and those responsible for Finance and Propaganda of the PCU.
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