Ex-Argentine dictator Videla jailed for life

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-Argentine dictator Videla jailed for life
Posted: 23 December 2010 0705 hrs

CORDOBA, Argentina: The principal dictator of Argentina's 1976-1983 military junta, Jorge Videla, was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for crimes against humanity committed during his murderous "dirty war" against left-wing dissidents.

Videla, an 85-year-old former army general who ruled between 1976 and 1981, had acknowledged his actions but denied they were human rights violations, insisting he was an unjustly convicted "political prisoner".

The sentencing judge, Maria Elba Martinez, described him as "a manifestation of state terrorism."

She ordered him incarcerated for the rest of his life in a federal penitentiary under civilian, not military, rules.

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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1100748/1/.html