The visiting minister of the Temuco Court of Appeals, Fernando Carreño Ortega, issued a first-instance conviction in the investigation into the aggravated kidnappings of Segundo Barriga Gutiérrez and Hernán Catalán Escobar, which occurred beginning in November 1975 in the town of Pitrufquén, La Araucanía Region.

The magistrate determined the following sentences against retired members of the Carabineros de Chile: -First Sergeant (ret.) Eudocio Díaz Ibacache: 5 years and one day of effective imprisonment. -Sub-officer (ret.) Edgardo López Cofré: 5 years and one day of effective imprisonment.

This is the eighth conviction issued by Minister Carreño in human rights cases in the year 2008 and the thirteenth since 2004.

Source: poderjudicial.cl, October 29, 2008

Sentences reduced for Carabineros accused of kidnapping during the dictatorship

The Supreme Court reduced the sentences of a retired Sergeant and a Sub-officer of the Carabineros, accused of the aggravated kidnapping of two shoemakers, militants of the Socialist Youth, which occurred two years after the military coup in the commune of Pitrufquén, La Araucanía region.

On November 21, 1975, in the La Cascada sector, commune of Pitrufquén, officials from the Comuy detachment detained two supporters of the Unidad Popular, Osvaldo Segundo Barriga Gutiérrez and Hernán Eusebio Catalán Escobar, both 24 years old, who were forced to get off the bus in which they were traveling and were taken to an unknown destination, as indicated by witness statements, and they have been forcibly disappeared since that date.

The special minister, Fernando Carreño Ortega, issued a conviction against the former first sergeant, Eudocio Díaz Ibacache, and the sub-officer, Edgardo Saturnino López Cofré, who in 1975 were performing police duties at the Comuy station, which was under the jurisdiction of the fifth Carabineros precinct of Pitrufquén.

In his judicial ruling, Minister Fernando Carreño stated that, given the length of the sentence imposed on the accused, they would not be granted the benefits established by law, and therefore they should effectively serve the 5 years and one day in prison.

However, this Thursday the Supreme Court issued a final judgment in the investigation into the aggravated kidnappings of Osvaldo Barriga and Hernán Catalán. In a split decision, the ministers of the Second Chamber determined the following sanctions: For former Carabinero Eudocio Díaz Ibacache: 5 years of imprisonment, and he was granted the benefit of supervised release, along with his comrade-in-arms, Edgardo López Cofré: 5 years of imprisonment, also with the benefit of supervised release.

Source: biobiochile.cl, October 29, 2009