A retired (R) Lieutenant Colonel of the Carabineros and five retired (R) non-commissioned officers of the same institution, in addition to one civilian, were convicted by the visiting judge of Temuco, Fernando Carreño, for the kidnapping and disappearance in Pitrufquén in September 1973 of Enrique Tenorio Fuentes, a socialist teacher; Luis Calfuquir Villalón, administrator of the Pitrufquén hospital; and Osvaldo Burgos Lavoz, an agent of the Banco del Estado in that town.

Those convicted in the first-instance sentence are retired Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Moreno Mena (15 years, perpetrator), retired non-commissioned officers Reinaldo Lukowiak Luppy (15 years, perpetrator), Hugo Catalán Lagos (15 years, perpetrator), Domingo Silva Soto (15 years, perpetrator), Germán Fernández Torres (5 years, perpetrator), and Nadir Guzmán Pincheira (3 years, accessory).

The civilian Heriberto Babilek Budic received a sentence of 3 years and one day as an accessory. Only Guzmán and Babilek were granted the benefit of supervised release.

Source: La Nación, October 4, 2007

Supreme Court issues final ruling for dictatorship-era crimes in Pitrufquén

The Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court issued a final ruling for the qualified kidnapping of Einar Tenorio Fuentes and Luis Calfuquir Villalón, and the qualified homicide of Osvaldo Burgos Lavoz, which occurred beginning on September 15, 1973, in the town of Pitrufquén, La Araucanía Region.

In a split decision, the high court handed down the following sentences: 3 years and one day for Reinaldo Lukowiak Luppy; 729 days for Carlos Moreno Mena, Hugo Nibaldo Catalán Lagos, Domingo Silva Soto, and Germán Fernández Torres; 200 days for Nadir Guzmán Pincheira and Heriberto Babileck Druding.

All those convicted were granted the benefit of supervised release. This ruling was adopted with the dissenting votes of ministers Nibaldo Segura and Rubén Ballesteros, who were of the opinion that the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution should be applied.

Likewise, in the civil sphere, the same judges rejected the payment of that sum by accepting the plea of lack of jurisdiction of the court.

Source: La Nación, December 23, 2009

Supreme Court issues ruling in human rights case

In the civil aspect, the State Treasury must pay 75 million pesos in compensation to Verónica Tenorio, daughter of Einar Tenorio. The Supreme Court issued a final ruling in the investigation into the qualified kidnapping of Einar Tenorio Fuentes and Luis Calfuquir Villalón, and the qualified homicide of Osvaldo Burgos Lavoz, which occurred beginning on September 15, 1973, in the town of Pitrufquén, La Araucanía Region.

In a split decision (case file 5233-2008), ministers Nibaldo Segura, Rubén Ballesteros, Hugo Dolmestch, Carlos Künsemüller, and acting lawyer Nelson Pozo determined the following sanctions:

THE SENTENCES

For Carlos Moreno Mena: 729 days of imprisonment for the kidnapping of Einar Tenorio Fuentes, and 3 years and one day of imprisonment for the qualified homicide of Osvaldo Burgos Lavoz. The benefit of supervised release was granted.

For Reinaldo Lukowiak Luppy: 3 years and one day of imprisonment for the kidnappings of Einar Tenorio Fuentes and Luis Calfuquir Villalón. The benefit of supervised release was granted. For Hugo Nibaldo Catalán Lagos: 729 days of imprisonment for the kidnapping of Luis Calfuquir Villalón, and 3 years and one day of imprisonment for the homicide of Osvaldo Burgos Lavoz.

The benefit of supervised release was granted. For Domingo Silva Soto: 729 days of imprisonment for the kidnapping of Luis Calfuquir Villalón, and 3 years and one day of imprisonment for the homicide of Osvaldo Burgos Lavoz.

The benefit of supervised release was granted. For Germán Fernández Torres: 729 days of imprisonment for the kidnapping of Luis Calfuquir Villalón. The benefit of conditional remission of the sentence was granted.

For Nadir Guzmán Pincheira: 200 days of imprisonment as an accessory to the homicide of Osvaldo Burgos Lavoz. The benefit of conditional remission of the sentence was granted. Finally, for Heriberto Babileck Druding, a sentence of 200 days of imprisonment was given as an accessory to the homicide of Osvaldo Burgos Lavoz.

The benefit of conditional remission of the sentence was granted. In the civil aspect, the State of Chile was ordered to pay $75,000,000 (seventy-five million pesos) to Verónica Tenorio Aguilera, daughter of Einar Tenorio Fuentes, as compensation for moral damages.

In the criminal aspect, the decision was adopted with the dissenting votes of ministers Segura and Ballesteros, who were of the opinion that the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution should be applied; meanwhile, in the civil aspect, the same ministers determined to reject the payment and accept the plea of lack of jurisdiction of the court.

Source: Australtemuco.cl, December 23, 2009

Chilean justice system releases seven convicted for three disappearances in 1973

The Supreme Court of Chile granted supervised release to six retired police officers and one civilian who had been sentenced to between five and fifteen years in prison for the 1973 disappearance of three socialist militants, judicial sources reported today.

Judge Fernando Carreño sentenced retired Carabineros Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Moreno Mena and former non-commissioned officers Reinaldo Lukowiak Luppy and Hugo Catalán Lagos to 15 years in prison in October 2007.

EFE/Archive The country's high court issued a final ruling for the disappearance of the three opponents, who were detained on September 15, 1973, four days after the military coup of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), in Pitrufquén, 700 kilometers south of Santiago.

The forcibly disappeared are Einar Enrique Tenorio Fuentes, a teacher at the local high school; Luis Calfuquir Villalón, administrator of the hospital; and Osvaldo Burgos Lavoz, an agent of the Banco del Estado.

According to witnesses, the three were taken that day to the Carabineros (militarized police) station in the town and have remained disappeared ever since. Judge Fernando Carreño, of the Temuco Court of Appeals, sentenced retired Carabineros Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Moreno Mena and former non-commissioned officers Reinaldo Lukowiak Luppy and Hugo Catalán Lagos to fifteen years in prison in October 2007.

The Supreme Court has now revoked that second-instance ruling and reduced the sentence for Moreno Mena, who was finally sentenced to 729 days of imprisonment as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Tenorio Fuentes and to three years and one day in prison for the qualified homicide of Burgos Lavoz.

However, Moreno Mena obtained the benefit of supervised release. Meanwhile, Lukowiak Luppy received three years and one day of imprisonment for the kidnappings of Tenorio Fuentes and Calfuquir Villalón, but also received the benefit of supervised release.

The same occurred with Catalán Lagos, sentenced to 729 days of imprisonment for the kidnapping of Calfuquir Villalón and to three years and one day in prison for the homicide of Burgos Lavoz. In the previous ruling, the judge also sentenced former Carabineros non-commissioned officers Domingo Silva Soto, Pedro Fernández Torres, and Nadir Guzmán Pincheira, as well as the civilian Heriberto Babilek Budic, to five years in prison as accessories to the crime.

The Supreme Court has now decided to reduce the sentence for Domingo Silva and sentenced him to 729 days of imprisonment for the kidnapping of Calfuquir Villalón and to three years and one day of imprisonment for the homicide of Burgos Lavoz, although he received the benefit of supervised release.

Meanwhile, Fernández Torres received 729 days in prison for the kidnapping of Calfuquir Villalón, accompanied by the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence. The other two retired non-commissioned officers were sentenced to 200 days of imprisonment as accessories to the homicide of Burgos Lavoz and were also granted the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence.

This benefit allows the sentence to be served in freedom, subject to discreet observation and assistance by the Gendarmería de Chile. The decision was adopted in a split ruling, and two judges were in favor of applying the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution to these crimes.

In the civil aspect, the State of Chile was ordered to pay 75 million pesos (148,000 dollars) to Verónica Tenorio Aguilera, daughter of Einar Tenorio Fuentes, as compensation for moral damages. The Supreme Court will be presided over starting in January by Judge Milton Juica, who became known for investigating emblematic human rights violation cases and was elected unanimously on December 18.

That day, Juica made a mea culpa for the actions of the justice system during the dictatorship. "During the dictatorship, the Judiciary did not behave up to the task, especially the Supreme Court, but I cannot say more than that because that Supreme Court does not currently exist and the people are not there at this moment," he stated.

Source: www.que.es, December 23, 2009

Two retired Carabineros prosecuted for homicide occurring in 1973 in Pitrufquén

A retired Carabineros lieutenant and a non-commissioned officer have been prosecuted as perpetrators of the qualified homicide of a Chemistry teacher from the Liceo de Toltén, which occurred in September 1973.

The visiting judge for human rights cases of the Court of Appeals, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, prosecuted retired Carabineros Lieutenant Carlos Hernán Moreno Mena and retired Carabineros Sergeant Major Reinaldo Alberto Lukowiak Luppy as perpetrators of the qualified homicide of Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras, perpetrated in September 1973 in the commune of Pitrufquén.

The accused Moreno Mena was placed in preventive detention, as Judge Mesa considered that his freedom constitutes a danger to the safety of society, also taking into account the probable legal sanction for the crime in which he is attributed participation.

Given the health conditions and age of the accused Reinaldo Lukowiak Luppy, who is 91 years old, the investigating judge ordered his total house arrest at his home in the commune of Pitrufquén. The investigation established, at this procedural stage, that after September 11, 1973, Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras, 23 years old, a student at the Universidad de Chile and Chemistry teacher at the Liceo Nueva Toltén, with no known political affiliation, was detained at night by Carabineros and taken to the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén.

He was murdered in that place, and to this day it is unknown where his body remains, as it was taken out of the police unit wrapped in a blanket, according to other detainees who saw him and managed to survive.

There is a possibility that the charges may be dismissed at the end of the investigation, for which reason the accused must NOT be considered guilty until the justice system issues a sentence against them.

Source: biobiochile.cl, July 8, 2018

Retired Carabineros officials accused of death and disappearance of young man during dictatorship

A lieutenant, a sergeant major, and a carabinero—all retired—were accused of the illegal detention and qualified homicide of a young university student who, in September 1973, was completing his teaching internship in Chemistry in Toltén, La Araucanía region.

The visiting judge for human rights violation cases of the Courts of Appeals of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa, issued an indictment against the retired Carabineros officials, Lieutenant Carlos Hernán Moreno Mena and Sergeant Major Reinaldo Alberto Lukowiak Luppy, as perpetrators of the qualified homicide of 23-year-old Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras, committed in Pitrufquén in September 1973.

The judge also accused the carabinero Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce as the perpetrator of the crime of illegal detention of the victim, after he arrested him inside the boarding house where he resided while completing his teaching internship at the commune's high school.

The detention of the Universidad de Chile student was allegedly to charge him with a plan to murder the Carabineros officials of Toltén, for which he was subsequently transferred to the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén and taken to the second floor of the stables, the place where he died after being beaten.

His body was removed from the place in a blanket, and to this day his whereabouts remain unknown.

Source: biobiochile.cl, March 27, 2019

Judge Álvaro Mesa issues indictment against retired Carabineros for homicide of chemistry teacher

The visiting judge for human rights violation cases of the Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique jurisdictions, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued an indictment against Carlos Hernán Moreno Mena and Reinaldo Alberto Lukowiak Luppy as perpetrators of the crime of qualified homicide of Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras.

The illicit act was perpetrated in Pitrufquén in September 1973. In the resolution, the investigating judge also accused Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce as the perpetrator of the crime of illegal detention of Sepúlveda Contreras.

The illicit act was perpetrated in Toltén in September 1973. During the investigation stage of the case, Judge Mesa Latorre managed to establish the following facts: A.- That after September 11, 1973, as a result of an order issued throughout the country, the armed and order-keeping institutions, the Carabineros Tenencia of Toltén increased its staff as lower units retreated to it, beginning to be dependent on the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén.

As a consequence of the above, there was a separation of functions in both police units; those who, under the command of the respective officers and together with their trusted personnel, carried out various ground operations in which they proceeded to detain and interrogate people who had political or social relevance ties; as well as those who were classified as extremists and were reported to local authorities; who were detained to finally be taken to a facility specially enabled for political detainees inside the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén, as will be detailed in point C of this presentation. B.- That regarding the chain of command, the Carabineros Tenencia of Toltén was formed by its chief, 1st Sergeant Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, who until that date served as chief of the Retén in the town of Queule, and by other police officials, among whom were Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce, driver of the unit, and 1st Sergeant Haroldo Hernández Reyes (deceased); the first of whom, in the company of the second and/or Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, among others, proceeded to detain and transfer political detainees to the unit's facilities; to subsequently take them to the facility detailed in the preceding paragraph, inside the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén. All by order of Captain Ramón Sergio Callis Soto (deceased) of the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén. C.- That in turn, Ramón Sergio Callis Soto, in command of said police unit and its lower units, organized and coordinated inside that station a special group of carabineros composed of officials of the unit, among whom were Lieutenant Carlos Hernán Moreno and Sergeant Major Reinaldo Alberto Lukowiak Luppy, who under the orders of the aforementioned officer proceeded to detain, without an apparent judicial order, people considered opponents of the Military Regime; who were apprehended solely for their political affiliation and taken to the second floor of the stables of the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén; a place where many of these detainees were physically tortured and which only members of this special group could enter. The whereabouts of many of those detainees remain unknown to date. D.- That in the month of September 1973 and after the 11th of the same month, Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras, 23 years old, a student at the Universidad de Chile, Chemistry teacher at the Liceo Nueva Toltén, with no known political affiliation, was detained at night by personnel of the Carabineros Tenencia of the same commune. This was carried out at the boarding house where he resided, located on Los Copihues street s/n in said commune, in the presence of the landlady, Mrs. Teresa Rodríguez, and the inspector of the establishment where he worked, named Nelson Araneda, who also paid for room and board in that place. Among his apprehenders was 1st Sergeant Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, who, as stated, at that time directed the Toltén Tenencia; Sergeant Haroldo Hernández Reyes; and the carabinero Juan Nolberto Caamaño Toledo, of the same police unit. The previous detention is confirmed by an informal complaint to the Carabineros of Toltén made by the aforementioned inspector regarding alleged political ties of Sepúlveda Contreras. E.- That after a few hours, Carabineros officials from Toltén went again to the property where Sepúlveda Contreras paid for room and board, with the object of removing each of his belongings. These were handed over by the daughter of the landlady of the boarding house to the officials of the aforementioned Tenencia, in the presence of a minor, grandson of Mrs. Rodríguez, named Jorge Lito Peña Erices. F.- That after interrogating him and charging him with a plan to murder the Carabineros of Toltén, Sepúlveda Contreras was transferred in a pickup truck—which at that time had been seized from a public service for the work of the uniformed officers—by the only carabinero who knew how to drive in said police unit, Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce, who was also officially designated for those tasks, and by 1st Sergeant Manuel Jesús Verdugo Retes, chief of the Toltén Tenencia, who transferred the victim to the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén. G.- That Daniel Sepúlveda was admitted to the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén and taken to the second floor of the stables of said unit, a place where, as stated, starting on September 11, 1973, they kept all persons brought in for political reasons as detainees. In this place, Sepúlveda Contreras was seen by other detainees, among them an English teacher named Óscar Seguel Jofré, who at the date of the events served as director of School No. 34 “Villa Donguil” and was a government delegate in that sector, reasons for which he knew Daniel Sepúlveda. Even at those moments when both were in the status of detainees, he could observe the poor physical state of the student and hear his complaints resulting from the same; furthermore, the young man managed to comment to him that he was doing his teaching internship in Toltén. However, a few minutes later, Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras stopped complaining, and he was able to observe that that young man had died beside him. After which, the carabineros who were there wrapped him in a blanket, taking him out of the facility after half an hour and not returning to the place again. H.- That as a result of what was previously exposed, the mother of Sepúlveda Contreras, Mrs. Hilda Contreras Lara, traveled from Santiago to the commune of Toltén in order to find out what happened to her son. In said commune, she went to the Carabineros Tenencia of Toltén, where they told her that her son had been transferred to the Pitrufquén Station. A place to which she subsequently went and where the logbook of detainees of the time was shown to her, verifying that he had indeed remained detained in that place, with no exit order or supposed transfer to another police unit existing. Despite the above, she made inquiries in the different Carabineros units of the region, not obtaining a clear answer about what happened to her son. I.- That after the episodes described above, the mother of Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras never again had news about his destination, with only the account existing in the Museum of Memory and Human Rights remaining at present, which gives an account of the disappearance after the cited detention; it being possible to prove until now, as has been said, that Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras died in the presence of Mr. Óscar Manuel Seguel Jofré. J.- Finally, to date, no public official of the Carabineros of the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén who served at the time of the events has provided any information to the respective authority regarding what happened to the body of Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of information about his death.

Source: temucotelevision.cl, March 25, 2019

Two former Carabineros were accused of the death of a young student in Pitrufquén in 1973

The visiting judge for human rights violation cases of the Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique jurisdictions, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued an indictment against Carlos Hernán Moreno Mena and Reinaldo Alberto Lukowiak Luppy as perpetrators of the crime of qualified homicide of Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras.

The illicit act was perpetrated in Pitrufquén in September 1973. In the resolution (case file 29.833), the investigating judge also accused Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce as the perpetrator of the crime of illegal detention of Sepúlveda Contreras.

The illicit act was perpetrated in Toltén in September 1973. During the investigation stage of the case, Judge Mesa Latorre managed to establish the following facts: A.- That after September 11, 1973, as a result of an order issued throughout the country, the armed and order-keeping institutions, the Carabineros Tenencia of Toltén increased its staff as lower units retreated to it, beginning to be dependent on the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén.

As a consequence of the above, there was a separation of functions in both police units; those who, under the command of the respective officers and together with their trusted personnel, carried out various ground operations in which they proceeded to detain and interrogate people who had political or social relevance ties; as well as those who were classified as extremists and were reported to local authorities; who were detained to finally be taken to a facility specially enabled for political detainees inside the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén, as will be detailed in point C of this presentation. B.- That regarding the chain of command, the Carabineros Tenencia of Toltén was formed by its chief, 1st Sergeant Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, who until that date served as chief of the Retén in the town of Queule, and by other police officials, among whom were Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce, driver of the unit, and 1st Sergeant Haroldo Hernández Reyes (deceased); the first of whom, in the company of the second and/or Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, among others, proceeded to detain and transfer political detainees to the unit's facilities; to subsequently take them to the facility detailed in the preceding paragraph, inside the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén. All by order of Captain Ramón Sergio Callis Soto (deceased) of the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén. C.- That in turn, Ramón Sergio Callis Soto, in command of said police unit and its lower units, organized and coordinated inside that station a special group of carabineros composed of officials of the unit, among whom were Lieutenant Carlos Hernán Moreno and Sergeant Major Reinaldo Alberto Lukowiak Luppy, who under the orders of the aforementioned officer proceeded to detain, without an apparent judicial order, people considered opponents of the Military Regime; who were apprehended solely for their political affiliation and taken to the second floor of the stables of the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén; a place where many of these detainees were physically tortured and which only members of this special group could enter. The whereabouts of many of those detainees remain unknown to date. D.- That in the month of September 1973 and after the 11th of the same month, Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras, 23 years old, a student at the Universidad de Chile, Chemistry teacher at the Liceo Nueva Toltén, with no known political affiliation, was detained at night by personnel of the Carabineros Tenencia of the same commune. This was carried out at the boarding house where he resided, located on Los Copihues street s/n in said commune, in the presence of the landlady, Mrs. Teresa Rodríguez, and the inspector of the establishment where he worked, named Nelson Araneda, who also paid for room and board in that place. Among his apprehenders was 1st Sergeant Manuel Jesús Verdugo Reyes, who, as stated, at that time directed the Toltén Tenencia; Sergeant Haroldo Hernández Reyes; and the carabinero Juan Nolberto Caamaño Toledo, of the same police unit. The previous detention is confirmed by an informal complaint to the Carabineros of Toltén made by the aforementioned inspector regarding alleged political ties of Sepúlveda Contreras. E.- That after a few hours, Carabineros officials from Toltén went again to the property where Sepúlveda Contreras paid for room and board, with the object of removing each of his belongings. These were handed over by the daughter of the landlady of the boarding house to the officials of the aforementioned Tenencia, in the presence of a minor, grandson of Mrs. Rodríguez, named Jorge Lito Peña Erices. F.- That after interrogating him and charging him with a plan to murder the Carabineros of Toltén, Sepúlveda Contreras was transferred in a pickup truck—which at that time had been seized from a public service for the work of the uniformed officers—by the only carabinero who knew how to drive in said police unit, Juan Alfonso Prado Ponce, who was also officially designated for those tasks, and by 1st Sergeant Manuel Jesús Verdugo Retes, chief of the Toltén Tenencia, who transferred the victim to the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén. G.- That Daniel Sepúlveda was admitted to the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén and taken to the second floor of the stables of said unit, a place where, as stated, starting on September 11, 1973, they kept all persons brought in for political reasons as detainees. In this place, Sepúlveda Contreras was seen by other detainees, among them an English teacher named Óscar Seguel Jofré, who at the date of the events served as director of School No. 34 “Villa Donguil” and was a government delegate in that sector, reasons for which he knew Daniel Sepúlveda. Even at those moments when both were in the status of detainees, he could observe the poor physical state of the student and hear his complaints resulting from the same; furthermore, the young man managed to comment to him that he was doing his teaching internship in Toltén. However, a few minutes later, Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras stopped complaining, and he was able to observe that that young man had died beside him. After which, the carabineros who were there wrapped him in a blanket, taking him out of the facility after half an hour and not returning to the place again. H.- That as a result of what was previously exposed, the mother of Sepúlveda Contreras, Mrs. Hilda Contreras Lara, traveled from Santiago to the commune of Toltén in order to find out what happened to her son. In said commune, she went to the Carabineros Tenencia of Toltén, where they told her that her son had been transferred to the Pitrufquén Station. A place to which she subsequently went and where the logbook of detainees of the time was shown to her, verifying that he had indeed remained detained in that place, with no exit order or supposed transfer to another police unit existing. Despite the above, she made inquiries in the different Carabineros units of the region, not obtaining a clear answer about what happened to her son. I.- That after the episodes described above, the mother of Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras never again had news about his destination, with only the account existing in the Museum of Memory and Human Rights remaining at present, which gives an account of the disappearance after the cited detention; it being possible to prove until now, as has been said, that Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras died in the presence of Mr. Óscar Manuel Seguel Jofré. J.- Finally, to date, no public official of the Carabineros of the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén who served at the time of the events has provided any information to the respective authority regarding what happened to the body of Daniel Sepúlveda Contreras, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of information about his death.

Source: proaraucania.com, March 26, 2019

3 men prosecuted for murder and torture of union leader in '73

The events of this headline date back to September 16, 1973, when agricultural worker Pedro Curihual Paillán—a sympathizer of Salvador Allende—was detained and tortured inside the Fifth Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén.

The man lost his life and his body remains disappeared to this day. According to the investigation, officials Carlos Hernán Moreno Mena and Reinaldo Alberto Lukowiak Luppy were prosecuted for this crime, both as perpetrators of the homicide.

But Germán Fernández Torres was also prosecuted as an accessory to the events. The three elderly men were placed under total house arrest and national travel restrictions, but the decision of the visiting judge for human rights violation cases, Álvaro Mesa, determined that they will not be granted provisional release.

Source: definicionfm.cl, August 24, 2020