Chile Supreme Court sentences Pinochet-era officers for ‘Caravan of Death’ killings News
Chile Supreme Court sentences Pinochet-era officers for ‘Caravan of Death’ killings

[JURIST] Chile's Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] Wednesday sentenced five former Chilean military officers for their role in the killing of five leftist political opponents as part of the so-called "Caravan of Death" [BBC backgrounder] in October 1973. General Sergio Arellano Stark was sentenced to six years in prison for his role leading a group that toured provincial cities in Chile eliminating political opponents at the behest of General Augusto Pinochet [JURIST archive] in the months following the military's violent overthrow of leftist president President Salvador Allende. Four other defendants received sentences [press release, in Spanish] ranging between six and four years in prison. Reuters has more.

In March 2006, Judge Victor Montiglio announced indictments and ordered the arrests of 13 retired Chilean military officers [JURIST report] accused of directly participating in the Caravan. In November that year, Montiglio indicted Pinochet himself [JURIST report] and placed him under house arrest in connection with the firing-squad deaths of two of Allende's bodyguards. Pinochet died in December 2006 before being brought to trial [JURIST report]. In the end, military officers killed as many as 75 Chilean dissidents, many of whom had turned themselves in to authorities.

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