The sentences of the perpetrators of the murder of singer-songwriter Víctor Jara during the Chilean dictatorship are raised

Justice chilean increased the penalties imposed on seven ex-military men convicted of the kidnapping and murder of the famous singer-songwriter Victor Jara and the former director of prisons Littré Quiroga, which occurred days after the military coup led by Augusto Pinochet, on September 11, 1973.

“The Court has unanimously resolved to requalify the sentence that had been imposed for crimes of simple kidnapping for seriously qualified kidnapping”, Alejandro Rivera, judge of the Santiago Court of Appeals, reported on Tuesday.

The court increased the sentence for the kidnapping of Jara and Quiroga for the six ex-officers –Raúl Jofré, Edwin Dimter, Nelson Haase, Ernesto Bethke, Juan Jara and Hernán Chacón– but he maintained the sentence of 15 years and one day for the murder of both victims, he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, he raised the sentence of former officer R from 61 days of imprisonment to 5 yearsHello Melo for covering up the kidnappings. In addition, he must serve a sentence of 5 years and one day in prison, as a cover-up for the homicides.

Those convicted can appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Jara, a member of the Communist Party and one of the most recognized voices in popular music in Chile and Latin America, was detained, tortured and assassinated with 44 bullets after the Pinochet coup in September 1973 in Santiago, which ended the government of the socialist Salvador Allende.

He was detained at the State Technical University, where he was a professor, the day after the coup and after that, he was imprisoned and recognized by the military who brutally tortured him.

Littre Quiroga, was a national director of prisons and also a member of the Communist Party. His body, also showing signs of torture, was found next to that of Víctor Jara.

In 2014, Chile officially asked the United States for the extradition of the former official Pedro Barrientos, accused of being the material author of the crime of the famous folklorist, but the demand remains so far without answer.

In a civil trial, a US federal court declared, in June 2016, the former Chilean official responsible for the murder of Jara, and ordered the payment of 28 million dollars in compensation to his family.

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