Case No. 2182: “Arturo Hillerns Larrañaga” Case

Having reviewed

In the case file No. 2182 of the Santiago Court of Appeals, “Arturo Hillerns Larrañaga,” by judgment of April 15, 2014, written starting on page 3636, the following were convicted: Gonzalo Enrique Arias González, Eduardo Orlando Riquelme Rodríguez, Francisco Neftalí Ferrada González, and Osvaldo Muñoz Mondaca, in their capacity as perpetrators of the crime of aggravated kidnapping committed against the person of Arturo Hillerns Larrañaga, each to suffer the penalty of five years and one day of major imprisonment in its minimum degree, and the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and political rights and absolute disqualification for professional titles for the duration of the sentence, and the payment of court costs; and Omar Burgos Dejean, Ernesto Ildefonso Garrido Bravo, and Hugo Opazo Inzunza, in their capacity as accomplices to the crime of aggravated kidnapping committed against the person of Arturo Hillerns Larrañaga, each to suffer the penalty of three years and one day of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree, accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and political rights and absolute disqualification for professional titles for the duration of the sentence, and the payment of court costs.

Source: Judiciary, April 15, 2014

Supreme Court confirms sentences for crimes against MIR members and physician in Temuco

This week, the Supreme Court ratified the appealed sentences in two human rights violation cases investigated, in the first instance, by visiting judges Leopoldo Llanos Sagristá and Alejandro Madrid Crohare.

In the first ruling (case file 11198-2015), the Second Chamber of the high court—composed of justices Milton Juica, Carlos Künsemüller, Haroldo Brito, Juan Eduardo Fuentes, and Jorge Dahm—rejected the cassation appeal filed against the sentence issued on October 24, 2014, which convicted two agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) as perpetrators of the repeated crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Artemio Gutiérrez Ávila, Javier Fuentealba Fuentealba, and Abundio Contreras González, illicit acts perpetrated starting on July 13 (the first two) and July 14, 1974 (the latter), in the Metropolitan Region.

The high court's sentence ratified the convictions issued by Judge Llanos, of 20 years of imprisonment for former army officer Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and 15 years and one day of imprisonment for agent Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes.

During the investigation stage, Judge Leopoldo Llanos established the following facts:

a) That “Londres N°38” was a secret detention and torture center of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA). It was located in downtown Santiago and operated from late 1973 until approximately the final days of August 1974.

It held numerous detainees, who were interrogated and tortured with different types of flagellation. They were also taken out of the facility to cooperate in other arrests. b) That Artemio Segundo Gutiérrez Ávila, 23 years old, jeweler, single, member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was arrested jointly with Francisco Javier Eduardo Fuentealba Fuentealba, 26 years old, jeweler, member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), by DINA agents on July 13, 1974, while they were at the “Platinol” jewelry store located at Calle Santo Domingo N° 573, Apartment 33, Santiago commune, to be taken to the clandestine detention center known as “Londres 38,” where they were seen by witnesses, with all credible traces of them being lost to date, without them having made contact with their families, nor having carried out procedures before State agencies; without registering entries or exits from the country, and with no record of their death; c) That Abundio Alejandro Contreras González, 28 years of age, married, father of two children, employee of the Agrarian Reform Corporation (CORA) and member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was arrested on July 14, 1974, at his home in the La Cisterna commune by personnel of the National Intelligence Directorate. He was seen at “Londres 38” and “Cuatro Álamos” by various witnesses, and from there all traces of him are lost to date, without him having made contact with his families, nor having carried out procedures before State agencies, without registering entries or exits from the country, and with no record of his death (...) the facts described above constitute separate crimes of aggravated kidnapping, as contemplated in Article 141, paragraphs 1 and 4 of the Penal Code; and are qualified by the time the action was prolonged, that is, more than 90 days, and by the consequences thereof, resulting in serious damage to the person or interests of the victims. Such a situation occurs in this case, as the whereabouts of Artemio Segundo Gutiérrez Ávila, Francisco Fuentealba Fuentealba, and Abundio Contreras González remain unknown, it having been established in the case that the aforementioned victims were held against their will starting on July 13, 1974 (regarding the first two) and July 14 of the same year (regarding the latter), depriving them of their freedom of movement, a state that continues to this day, as the whereabouts of the kidnapped individuals remain unknown.”

Physician from Temuco

In the second ruling (case file 173-2016), the Second Chamber of the high court—composed of the same justices mentioned above—rejected the cassation appeal filed against the sentence that convicted retired members of the Carabineros for the aggravated kidnapping of physician Arturo Hillerns Larrañaga, an illicit act perpetrated starting on September 15, 1973, in Temuco.

The confirmed sentence, issued on April 15, 2014, sentenced former Carabineros officers Francisco Neftalí Ferrada González and Osvaldo Muñoz Mondaca to 10 years of imprisonment as perpetrators of the crime. Meanwhile, former uniformed police officers Eduardo Enrique Riquelme Rodríguez, Omar Burgos Dejean, and Hugo Opazo Insunza must each serve 3 years and one day of imprisonment as accomplices.

Likewise, former Carabineros officer Gonzalo Enrique Arias González and former police officials Ernesto Idelfonso Garrido Bravo and Juan de Dios Aliro Verdugo Jara were acquitted as their participation in the events could not be proven.

In the first instance, Judge Alejandro Madrid established that:

“Starting on September 11, 1973, a civil commission was organized at the 2nd Carabineros Precinct of Temuco, which was ‘composed of officials from this police force, under the command of Lieutenant Eduardo Riquelme Rodríguez and reporting directly to Commander Gonzalo Arias González, head of services and second-in-command of the Cautín Carabineros Prefecture.

The personnel of this unit operated independently of the functions of the 2nd Precinct and generally wore civilian clothes. Although it operated in a building located at the corner of Calle General Cruz and Calle Antonio Varas, the detainees were physically kept in the back of the 2nd Precinct, located at Calle Claro Solar N° 1248, in an office that had an entrance, a false door (rear entrance toward the railway line), and an independent cell.

Political prisoners were not entered into the Guard Books and were taken directly to these facilities. This unit moved in ‘Chevrolet’ C-10 model pickup trucks with canvas covers. This unit was created with the purpose of working on political issues ordered for investigation to comply with orders issued by the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco and, therefore, was in charge of political prisoners, regarding their apprehension and interrogations as the case may be, and once their situation was decided, they were handed over, indiscriminately, to Department II of the Chilean Air Force at the Maquehue Air Base in Temuco, to the Tucapel Infantry Regiment N° 8, or to the city's Public Jail. In all these detention centers, officials operated who, holding various degrees of hierarchy in the command, ordered some and executed others, the capture of people who were members of or affiliated with political parties or left-wing movements, whom they illegally imprisoned in the places designated for that purpose, breaking them under physical torture of various kinds in order to make them provide information about other people on the political left to apprehend them.’”

Under these circumstances, it continues, “(...) on September 15, 1973, around 02:00 in the morning, officials from the 2nd Carabineros Precinct of Temuco violently broke into the property at Calle Lynch N° 161, carrying out an illegal raid and destroying clothing and belongings.

Among the police, the family was able to recognize the then-Lieutenant Osvaldo Muñoz Mondaca, who loudly asked for Jaime Eltit Spielmann, brother-in-law of Arturo Hillerns Larrañaga, who was later arrested by military personnel in the city of Santiago on October 6, 1973, and has been missing since then.

The residents of the house were interrogated about Jaime's friends and the addresses they had, warning that they knew who the Marxists were. When the officials were proceeding to leave, another group appeared from the backyard composed of five Carabineros officials, different from those who were interrogating, who had entered through the back of the property, had raided some rooms, and seized some boxes of books and documents that belonged to Arturo Hillerns Larrañaga.

They were dressed differently from the previous ones, as one was wearing riding boots, another a helmet and a greatcoat (which his spouse recognized as the members of the so-called Civil Commission of the 2nd Carabineros Precinct); at that moment, Arturo Hillerns Larrañaga asked, ‘Why are you taking those boxes of books?’ as they were his property and consisted of medical texts.

The official in charge asked for his name and, upon being given it, indicated, ‘We were looking for you!’ Arturo Hillerns requested that the corresponding arrest warrant be shown to him, to which the officer, pointing his firearm at him, stated: ‘This is my warrant...!’ In that way, Hillerns was put into a white pickup truck with a canvas cover, without license plates, and the family was informed that he would be taken to the 2nd Carabineros Precinct of Temuco.”

Source: resumen.cl, June 25, 2016