Juicio a las Juntas Militares

This case summary is being revised and will be updated soon

Court	National Criminal Court of Appeals, Argentina
Case number	13/84
Decision title	Sentencia y fallo
Decision date	9 December 1985
Parties	Jorge Rafael Videla (first Junta) Emilio Eduardo Massera (first Junta) Orlando Ramón Agosti (first Junta) Roberto Eduardo Viola (second Junta) Armando Lambruschini (second Junta) Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri (third Junta) Jorge Isaac Anaya (third Junta) Basilio LamiDozo (third Junta) Omar Domingo Rubens Graffigna (second Junta) Prosecutor
Other names	Argentinean Military Junta Members trial
Categories	Crimes against humanity
Keywords	accountability (Head of State), murder, torture, crimes against humanity, illegal detention
Links	Vistos (in Spanish) Considerando primero (in Spanish) Considerando secundo (in Spanish) Considerando tercero (in Spanish) Considerando cuarto (in Spanish) Considerando quinto (in Spanish) Considerando sexto (in Spanish) Considerando séptimo (in Spanish) Considerando octavo (in Spanish) Considerandos noveno, decimo, undécimo y décimo segundo (in Spanish) Dispositivo y fallo (in Spanish)

Procedural history

The 1985 trial of the Argentinean Military Junta Members is a historical trial which saw the prosecution of the leaders of the first three Argentinean juntas of 1976 – 1983. The hearings were held from 22 April to 9 December 1985. Due to the large number of victims, the Court selected 280 emblematic cases among the 709 cases presented by the Prosecution. The Prosecutor’s closing argument, with its “¡ nuncas mas !” ("never again")proclamation remains historical. This trial is the first in South America where former dictators were brought before judges by a democratic government.

Related developments

On 29 December 1990, Argentinean President, Carlos Menen published Decree 2741/90 pardoning the accused sentenced during the 1985 trial.

Court's holding and analysis

On 9 December 1985, the verdict stated that the Military Juntas had “developed and implemented a criminal plan to fight terrorism, leaving considerable discretion to the junior officers of the armed forces to imprison those who where described as ‘subversives’ by the intelligence services; to torture them; to subject them to inhumane living conditions; and ultimately to decide freely on the final fate of their victims: being transferred to the legal system (judiciary or police), being released, or being simply executed” (unofficial translation of an extract of the judgment).

Jorge Rafael Videla and Emilio Eduardo Massera (first Junta) were sentenced to life imprisonment. Roberto Eduardo Viola (second Junta) was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment, Armando Lambruschini (second Junta) to 8 years and Orlando Ramón Agosti (first Junta) to 4 years. Omar Graffigna (second Junta), Leopoldo Galtieri, Jorge Isaac Anaya et Basilio Lami Dozo (third Junta) were acquitted owing to lack of evidence.