Visiting Judge Haroldo Brito established yesterday, for the first time, the crime of qualified kidnapping (also known as permanent kidnapping) in the ongoing proceedings against former CNI agents for the disappearance of five members of the Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez (FPMR) in 1987.

For this crime, he indicted former agents Víctor Ruiz Montoya, Luis Arturo Sanhueza Ros, and Luis Santibáñez Aguilera . The resolution issued by Brito stipulates that it can be proven that following the kidnapping of the Army commander, Mr.

Carlos Carreño Barrera, which occurred in this city (Santiago) on September 1, 1987, CNI officials decided to kidnap Manuel Sepúlveda Sánchez, Gonzalo Fuenzalida Navarrete, Julio Muñoz Otárola, Julián Peña Maltés, and Alejandro Pinochet Arenas .

For the same events, the magistrate, who took over the investigation from his colleague Hugo Dolmestch—now a Supreme Court justice—indicted as co-perpetrators of the kidnapping the former director of the CNI, General (R) Hugo Salas Wenzel , and his two collaborators, Álvaro Corvalán and Krantz Bauer .

They are followed for the same crime by Manuel Morales, César Acuña, and René Valdovinos . Meanwhile, as accessories to the crimes are Army officers (R) Gonzalo Asenjo Zegers and Rodrigo Pérez. The selection of the FPMR members took place between September 8 and 9 with the aim of exchanging them for the kidnapped commander, and the detainees were immediately transferred to the Cuartel Borgoño intelligence facility.

Helicopter According to the resolution, upon the release of the military officer, five bodies were removed by CNI officials from the security facility to be thrown into the sea from an Army helicopter.

The resolution notes that the same evidence also proves that the participation of the military helicopter and its pilots was ordered by the individuals in charge of the investigation operations into the kidnapping of Carlos Carreño.

These conclusions were reached after Judge Dolmestch, on July 20, recreated the dumping of the FPMR members at the port of San Antonio alongside Army personnel. During the proceeding, it was determined with certainty that the bodies were thrown in sacks with pieces of rail tracks tied to their feet so that they would not float to the surface.

An article published by La Nación last July revealed that Augusto Pinochet’s former pilot, nicknamed “El Chino Campos,” declared to the magistrate how, in September 1987, his boss, Colonel Mario Navarrete, ordered him to use one of the institutional helicopters to travel to the Peldehue area to pick up some packages, which contained the bodies. “El Chino Campos” recounted that for said operation, he traveled with his co-pilot, an officer who recently retired and who, until a few months ago, was the head of a military attaché office in Europe.

Furthermore, the head of the Special Affairs and Human Rights Brigade, Rafael Castillo, and his colleague Mario Zelada, traveled across the old continent searching for a key witness for this case.

Stages Judge Dolmestch established that the operation was divided into three stages. The first was the detention of the FPMR members to pressure the FPMR and recover the kidnapped military officer. Once detained, they were interrogated by the CNI.

Following this, the order arrived that the military regime would not negotiate with terrorists, and thus the five FPMR members were murdered. After the execution, Francisco “Gurka” Zúñiga was designated to coordinate with the Army to obtain the necessary elements to carry out the dumping of the bodies off the coast of San Antonio.

Source: La Nación, September 22, 2006

New indictments issued for the last disappeared persons of the dictatorship

Judge Mario Carroza indicted seven former CNI agents for the disappearance of five FPMR members, kidnapped in retaliation for the abduction of Colonel Carlos Carreño. Visiting Judge Mario Carroza submitted seven former agents of the Central Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) to trial for the qualified kidnappings of five young militants of the Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez (FPMR) in September 1987.

The magistrate indicted them for varying degrees of participation in the kidnappings of José Julián Peña Maltés, Alejandro Pinochet Arenas, Manuel Sepúlveda Sánchez, Gonzalo Fuenzalida Navarrete, and Julio Muñoz Otárola, which began on September 1, 1987.

The resolution affects Juan Carlos Orellana Morales, Hernán Antonio Vásquez Villegas, Raúl del Carmen Durán Martínez, José Guillermo Salas Fuentes, Marco Antonio Pincheira Ubilla, and Jorge Raimundo Ahumada Molina.

The list also includes Iván Quiroz Ruiz, who had remained a fugitive in the Operation Albania case and was arrested on Wednesday night. According to the ruling, the first six former agents face charges as perpetrators of the qualified kidnapping of Peña Maltés, while Quiroz was indicted for the same case, as well as for those of Pinochet Arenas, Sepúlveda Sánchez, Fuenzalida Navarrete, and Muñoz Otárola.

The investigation considers it proven that the five FPMR members were kidnapped in retaliation for the kidnapping of Colonel Carlos Carreño Barrera, then an official of the Fábricas y Maestranzas del Ejército (Famae), perpetrated on September 1, 1987. According to the investigation, the bodies of the five victims were thrown into the sea using Army helicopters.

Other prosecuted individuals

Before leaving the case and ascending to the Supreme Court in May 2007, Judge Haroldo Brito had indicted General (R) Julio Cerda Carrasco, former head of the Army Intelligence Battalion (BIE), and retired officer Fernando Rafael Rojas Tapia, also a member of the aforementioned military unit.

As accessories to the disappearances, he prosecuted Aquiles Navarrete Izarnotegui, Víctor Campos Valladares, and Hugo Barría Rogers. And in September 2006, Brito indicted twelve former CNI agents, including General (R) Hugo Salas Wenzel and his subordinates, Brigadier (R) Álvaro Corbalán Castilla and Krantz Bauer Donoso, as co-perpetrators of the kidnapping of Sepúlveda Sánchez, Fuenzalida Navarrete, and Muñoz Otárola.

On that occasion, the judge also prosecuted former agents Manuel Ángel Morales Acevedo, César Acuña Luengo, and René Valdovinos Morales as co-perpetrators of the kidnappings of Peña Maltés, Sepúlveda Sánchez, Fuenzalida Navarrete, and Muñoz Otárola.

They were joined by former CNI members Víctor Ruiz Godoy, Manuel Ramírez Montoya, Luis Sanhueza Ross, and Luis Santibáñez Aguilera, who were indicted as co-perpetrators of the kidnappings of Pinochet Arenas, Sepúlveda Sánchez, Fuenzalida Navarrete, and Muñoz Otárola.

Source: El Mostrador, January 24, 2008

Case File No. 39.122-C: Qualified Kidnapping Case of Julián Peña, Alejandro Pinochet, Manuel Sepúlveda, Gonzalo Fuenzalida, Julio Muñoz

1.- That RAÚL DEL CARMEN DURÁN MARTÍNEZ, LUIS ALBERTO SANTIBÁÑEZ AGUILERA, VÍCTOR EULOGIO RUIZ GODOY, JUAN ALEJANDRO JORQUERA ABARZÚA, HERNÁN ANTONIO VÁSQUEZ VILLEGAS, SERGIO AGUSTÍN MATELUNA PINO, JOSÉ ARTURO FUENTES PASTENES, JUAN CARLOS ORELLANA MORALES, ROBERTO HERNÁN RODRÍGUEZ MANQUEL, ALEJANDRO FRANCISCO ASTUDILLO ADONIS, JOSÉ GUILLERMO SALAS FUENTES, HERALDO VELOZO GALLEGOS, MARCO ANTONIO PINCHEIRA UBILLA, JORGE RAIMUNDO AHUMADA MOLINA, JOSÉ MIGUEL MORALES MORALES, EMA VERÓNICA CEBALLOS NUÑEZ, and PATRICIO LEONIDAS GONZÁLEZ CORTEZ , already identified in the case files, are sentenced for their participation as perpetrators of the crimes of Qualified Kidnapping of Julián Peña Maltés , to the penalty of FIVE YEARS AND ONE DAY OF MAJOR IMPRISONMENT IN ITS MINIMUM DEGREE, and the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from public office and political rights, absolute disqualification from holding professional titles during the term of the sentence, and the payment of the costs of this case.

Source: Judiciary, October 14, 2013

Replacement sentence in the case of the conviction of 33 former State agents for cases of forcibly disappeared persons

Replacement sentence

Santiago, March 21, 2017. In compliance with the provisions of Article 544 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the order of the preceding decision, and taking into consideration the provisions of Article 785 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the following replacement ruling is issued for the one that has been annulled in these proceedings.

Having seen

The appealed ruling is reproduced with the exception of the mention made of the convicted persons Pérez Martínez and Barría Roger in considerations 118° and 123°. From the invalidated sentence of the Santiago Court of Appeals, its expository section and reflections 1 through 25 are maintained, with the exception of the inclusion of the defendant Pérez Martínez in the final paragraph of finding 17° and in motive 24°.

And in its place, and furthermore, it is noted: 1°.- That the information provided by the accused Pérez Martínez in his successive statements regarding the operation carried out and his intervention in such events does not constitute the provision of elements of relevance and substance to the clarification of the facts, in terms of benefiting him with the mitigation of responsibility contemplated in Article 11 No. 9 of the Penal Code, concurring, in this part, with what is maintained in motive 118° of the sentence under review. 2°.- That for the purpose of determining the sanction applicable to the convicted person Pérez Martínez, being an accomplice to the crime of kidnapping, by application of Article 51 of the Penal Code, it is appropriate to impose the penalty immediately lower in degree to that indicated by law for the crime committed, thus being determined as major imprisonment in its minimum degree. Subsequently, and due to the existence of a mitigating factor of responsibility in his favor, in accordance with the provisions of Article 67 of the same code, the penalty will be imposed at the minimum of that degree. For these considerations and in accordance with the provisions of Articles 67 and 141 of the Penal Code, 527 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the report of the Judicial Prosecutor in their opinion on page 8,508, it is declared that: I. - The appeal in cassation on the merits filed by the defense of the convicted Julio Cerda Carrasco is rejected. II. - The sentence of October 14, 2013, written on page 7826 and following, supplemented by the resolution on page 8,107, is revoked insofar as it sentences Hugo Rodrigo Barría Rogers as an accessory to the crime of qualified kidnapping of Julián Peña Maltés, Alejandro Pinochet Arenas, Manuel Sepúlveda Sánchez, Gonzalo Fuenzalida Navarrete, and Julio Muñoz Otárola, which occurred starting on October 9 and 10, 1987, and in its place, it is decided that he is acquitted of said charges. III. - The indicated sentence is confirmed with the following declarations: .- Raúl Del Carmen Durán Martínez, Luis Alberto Santibáñez Aguilera, Víctor Eulogio Ruiz Godoy, Juan Alejandro Jorquera Abarzúa, Hernán Antonio Vásquez Villegas, Sergio Agustín Mateluna Pino, José Arturo Fuentes Pastenes, Juan Carlos Orellana Morales, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, José Guillermo Salas Fuentes, Heraldo Velozo Gallegos, Marco Antonio Pincheira Ubilla, Jorge Raimundo Ahumada Molina, José Miguel Morales Morales, Ema Verónica Ceballos Núñez, Patricio Leonidas González Cortez, César Luis Acuña Luengo, and René Armando Valdovinos Morales, already identified in the case files, are sentenced for their participation as perpetrators of the crime of qualified kidnapping, provided for and sanctioned in Article 141 of the Penal Code, which occurred between September 9 and 10, 1987, against Julián Peña Maltés, Alejandro Pinochet Arenas, Manuel Sepúlveda Sánchez, Gonzalo Fuenzalida Navarrete, and Julio Muñoz Otárola, to the penalty of ten years and one day of major imprisonment in its medium degree, and the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from public office and political rights, absolute disqualification from holding professional titles during the term of the sentence, and the payment of the costs of this case. .- Luis Arturo Sanhueza Ross, Manuel Ángel Morales Acevedo, and Manuel Ramírez Montoya, already identified in the case files, are sentenced as perpetrators of the crime of qualified kidnapping provided for and sanctioned in Article 141 of the Penal Code, which occurred between September 9 and 10, 1987, against Julián Peña Maltés, Alejandro Pinochet Arenas, Manuel Sepúlveda Sánchez, Gonzalo Fuenzalida Navarrete, and Julio Muñoz Otárola, to the penalty of five years and one day of major imprisonment in its minimum degree, and the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from public office and political rights, absolute disqualification from holding professional titles during the term of the sentence, and the payment of the costs of this case. .- Aquiles Navarrete Izarnótegui, Fernando Rafael Rojas Tapia, Julio Cerda Carrasco, Marco Antonio Bustos Carrasco, Hugo Prado Contreras, and Rodrigo Pérez Martínez, already identified in the case files, are sentenced for their participation as accomplices to the crime of qualified kidnapping, provided for and sanctioned in Article 141 of the Penal Code, which occurred between September 9 and 10, 1987, against Julián Peña Maltés, Alejandro Pinochet Arenas, Manuel Sepúlveda Sánchez, Gonzalo Fuenzalida Navarrete, and Julio Muñoz Otárola, to the penalty of five years and one day of major imprisonment in its minimum degree, and the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from public office and political rights, absolute disqualification from holding professional titles during the term of the sentence, and the payment of the costs of this case. .- Mario Campos Valladares is sentenced as an accomplice to the crime of qualified kidnapping provided for and sanctioned in Article 141 of the Penal Code, which occurred between September 9 and 10, 1987, against Julián Peña Maltés, Alejandro Pinochet Arenas, Manuel Sepúlveda Sánchez, Gonzalo Fuenzalida Navarrete, and Julio Muñoz Otárola, to the penalty of three years and one day of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree, and the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from political rights, absolute disqualification from public office during the term of the sentence, and the payment of the costs of this case. Given the length of the sentences, the benefits contained in Law No. 18.216 are not granted to the convicted persons, with the exception indicated below, and they must serve the imposed sanction in full and effectively, with the credits recognized for each of them in the appealed ruling. The convicted person Mario Campos Valladares is granted the benefit of supervised release, in accordance with the text of Law No. 18.216 at the time of the events, as it is more beneficial, and he must remain subject to the administrative control of the Gendarmería de Chile in the city where he establishes his residence for a term equal to that of the custodial sentence, comply with the other requirements established in Article 17 of the cited law, and report to that Unit after notification of the sentence. In the event that he must serve the custodial sentence, the time recognized in such capacity in the appealed ruling will serve as credit. V. - Regarding the civil action, the decision of the lower court is maintained without modifications. VI. - The pronouncement regarding the definitive dismissals of the prosecuted individuals Gonzalo Asenjo Zegers and Krantz Bauer Donoso, written on pages 5057 and 6842, respectively, is also maintained. It is noted that Justice Cisternas was in favor of recognizing the defendants the qualified mitigating factor of Article 103 of the Penal Code and, therefore, reducing the sentences for the crime of qualified kidnapping for which they are responsible, keeping in mind the same reasons maintained in his dissenting vote in the cassation ruling. It is noted that regarding the punishments, Justice Cerda maintains what he set forth in his dissent in the cassation ruling. Register and return with its attachments. Drafting by Justice Cisternas and the caveats by their authors. No. 8642-15 Pronounced by the Second Chamber composed of Justices Carlos Künsemüller L., Lamberto Cisternas R., Carlos Cerda F., Manuel Valderrama R., and Jorge Dahm O. Justice Künsemüller does not sign, despite having been present at the hearing of the case and the agreement of the ruling, due to being on leave. Authorized by the Clerk of the Supreme Court. In Santiago, on March 21, 2017, I notified the preceding resolution in the Secretariat via the Daily State, as well as personally to the Judicial Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, who did not sign.

Source: Judiciary, March 21, 2017