International
Argentine ex-policeman jailed for student’s disappearance in 1976
| By AFP |
A former Argentine police officer was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for the torture and disappearance of a student 46 years ago under the South American country’s last military dictatorship.
Mario Sandoval, 69, stood accused of having participated in hundreds of abductions, torture and disappearances committed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.
He was extradited from France in 2019 after a long period of exile and a legal battle, and put on trial for only one such case: the death of then 24-year-old architecture student and left-wing activist Hernan Abriata in 1976.
Sandoval was found guilty of “illegitimate deprivation of liberty” and “torture” of a political prisoner. He participated in the sentencing proceedings from his cell in a military prison.
Sandoval is accused of having been one of the most active agents of the notorious Navy Mechanics School (ESMA), which served as the country’s largest detention and torture facility.
Some 5,000 people were sent there and most disappeared, taken by airplane on “death flights” and dumped into the River Plate. Only about 100 people detained in ESMA survived.
Survivors say Sandoval, apparently given the nickname “grilled steak” for torturing prisoners tied to a metal bed frame with electricity, was particularly active in the ESMA. He has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence.
Sandoval fled to France in 1985, two years after the military junta fell, and built a new life there as a defense and security consultant.
He taught at the Sorbonne and the Institute of Higher Latin American Studies in Paris.
He was discovered by a student at the Sorbonne after ex-ESMA prisoners recognized him from photos.
Sandoval was arrested at his home in the Paris suburbs.
Although he gained French nationality in 1997, Argentina successfully obtained Sandoval’s extradition as he was not French at the time of the alleged crimes.
He had unsuccessfully petitioned France’s Council of State in a bid to prevent his extradition. France agreed to his extradition to stand trial only in the Abriata case.
Since the prosecution of dictatorship figures resumed in 2006 after a decade of controversial amnesties, more than 1,000 people have been convicted of crimes against humanity.
Cases and investigations are ongoing against about another 500 people.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
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