Chilean Officer Must Stand Trial in Youth’s Death
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SANTIAGO, Chile — A military court, in a 4-1 decision, reversed a civilian judge Tuesday and ruled that an army officer must stand trial on charges of using “unnecessary violence” in the burning death of a Chilean-born U.S. resident during anti-government demonstrations last month.
The court, in upgrading the indictment against Lt. Pedro Fernandez, rejected the army’s contention that Rodrigo Rojas de Negri, 19, a resident of Washington, and Carmen Quintana Aranciaba, 18, were burned after Quintana kicked over a can of gasoline while trying to erect a street barricade on July 2. That was the first day of a general strike to protest President Augusto Pinochet’s military government.
Died Four Days Later
Rojas died four days later. Quintana remains in critical condition.
If convicted, Fernandez faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
In late July, a civilian judge had indicted Fernandez, who was in command of an army patrol that night, on charges of criminal negligence for not taking the teen-agers to a hospital, but dismissed homicide charges against him.
The judge also cleared 24 patrol members, but the military court has asked the army prosecutor to consider indictments against them.
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