The Criminal Chamber of the high court confirmed a sentence of five years and one day in prison against former officer Luis Fernando Romo Morales, who is identified as responsible for the kidnapping of Carlos Montecinos Urra and José Cofré Obadilla.

The former police officer must also pay $10 million in compensation to three daughters of the second victim. The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court confirmed a new conviction for human rights violations against a retired Carabineros officer, regarding two cases of forcibly disappeared persons in September 1973 in the city of Chillán, in the Eighth Region.

In a unanimous decision, justices Alberto Chaigeneau, Nibaldo Segura, Jaime Rodríguez, Rubén Ballesteros, and Hugo Dolmestch dismissed the appeal filed by the defense of Luis Fernando Romo Morales. In doing so, they ratified the sentence of five years and one day in prison against the former officer, who is held responsible for the kidnapping of farmers Carlos Roberto Montecinos Urra and José Lorenzo Cofré Obadilla, detained on September 27 and 28, respectively, in Coihueco.

Additionally, Romo Morales must pay $10 million in moral damages to three daughters of the second victim of the police repression that occurred in the rural area of the Bío-Bío Region. In December 2006, the Chillán Court of Appeals had reduced the initial sentence from the city's Juzgado de Letras, which had sentenced Romo Morales to ten years and one day in prison; it also acquitted the former mayor and councilman of Coihueco, Luis Manuel Quintana González, who was initially sentenced to five years and one day of imprisonment.

At the time of the events, Montecinos Urra was a councilman for Coihueco representing the Partido Comunista, while Obadilla was a union leader for the tractor drivers of the "Montaña Bustamante" settlement.

Both were fathers of eleven and three children, respectively, and they presented themselves voluntarily to the Carabineros station in Coihueco after being summoned in the military decrees of the time. Judicial records state that Luis Fernando Romo Morales was in charge of the barracks and allegedly participated directly in the execution of the two rural leaders.

Source: El Mostrador.cl May 27, 2007

Supreme Court convicts former Carabineros officer for disappearances in Coihueco

The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court confirmed a new conviction for human rights violations against a retired Carabineros officer, regarding two cases of forcibly disappeared persons in September 1973 in the city of Chillán, in the Eighth Region.

In a unanimous decision, justices Alberto Chaigeneau, Nibaldo Segura, Jaime Rodríguez, Rubén Ballesteros, and Hugo Dolmestch dismissed the appeal filed by the defense of Luis Fernando Romo Morales. In doing so, they ratified the sentence of five years and one day in prison against the former officer, who is held responsible for the kidnapping of farmers Carlos Roberto Montecinos Urra and José Lorenzo Cofré Obadilla, detained on September 27 and 28, respectively, in Coihueco.

Additionally, Romo Morales must pay $10 million in moral damages to three daughters of the second victim of the police repression that occurred in the rural area of the Bío-Bío Region. In December 2006, the Chillán Court of Appeals had reduced the initial sentence from the city's Juzgado de Letras, which had sentenced Romo Morales to ten years and one day in prison; it also acquitted the former mayor and councilman of Coihueco, Luis Manuel Quintana González, who was initially sentenced to five years and one day of imprisonment.

At the time of the events, Montecinos Urra was a councilman for Coihueco representing the Partido Comunista, while Obadilla was a union leader for the tractor drivers of the "Montaña Bustamante" settlement.

Both were fathers of eleven and three children, respectively, and they presented themselves voluntarily to the Carabineros station in Coihueco after being summoned in the military decrees of the time. Judicial records state that Luis Fernando Romo Morales was in charge of the barracks and allegedly participated directly in the execution of the two rural leaders.

Source: May 27, 2007 El Mostrador