Prosecutor requests life imprisonment for eight rugby players for the beating murder of Fernando Báez Sosa

The Prosecutor’s Office requested this Wednesday life imprisonment for the eight accused of beating to death Fernando Baez Sosaaged 18, in the coastal city of Villa Gesell (Buenos Aires province) in January 2020, a crime that shocked Argentine society.

During the first day of allegations, the prosecutors Gustavo García and Juan Manuel Dávila they requested, before the judges of the Oral Criminal Court No. 1 of the Buenos Aires town of Dolores, life imprisonment for defendantsfor the crimes of homicide aggravated by treachery and by the premeditated competition of two or more people.

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The eight defendants, who are currently between the ages of 21 and 23, were considered “co-authors” of this crime.n, due to the way in which they allegedly carried out the murder.

Most of the suspects former players of the rugby club Náutico Arsenal Záratefrom the province of Buenos Aires, were also accused of causing “minor injuries” to the victim’s friends.

Posters with the image of Fernando Báez Sosa on the security bars of the Oral Court No. 1 in Dolores, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 25, 2023. (DIEGO IZQUIERDO / TELAM / AFP).

THE CRIME

According to the account of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the defendants Máximo Thomsen, Matías Benicelli, Enzo Comelli, Blas Cinalli, Ayrton Viollaz and Luciano, Ciro and Lucas Pertossi “agreed to kill” Fernando Báez Sosa.

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The victim was ambushed when leaving a nightclub in Villa Gesella town located about 400 kilometers from the Argentine capital and a favorite tourist place for youth to spend the summer.

According to security camera recordings, “the rugby players” -as they are known in the media- waited for the Police and local security personnel to move away from the area to attack Baez Sosa from behind and, once on the ground, they continued to kick and punch him until he was rendered unconscious.

Several of the attackers formed a circle around the young man to prevent his friends from rescuing him, while the rest continued to attack him.

The death of Báez Sosa, the product of “multiple head injuries”, generated a wave of widespread repudiationto the point that strong security measures were taken during the trial, which was broadcast daily on the country’s television.

PARAGUAY ALSO CALLS FOR JUSTICE

The Congress of Paraguay joined this Wednesday the demands for justice for Baez Sosasince he was the son of Paraguayan immigrants living in Argentina.

The Permanent Commission of Congress approved a draft declaration “that calls for justice for the family of Fernando Báez and punishment of those responsible for the murder of the young man.”

The deputy promoter of the initiative, Norma Camacho, from the opposition National Encounter Party (PEN), took this crime as an example to carry out “all possible policies to eradicate violence.”

Source: Elcomercio