Franco Reverberi Boschi, a priest in the sights of the Argentine Justice since 2012, will be tried for kidnappings, torture and a homicide, which occurred during the military dictatorship. The Italian Minister of Justice signed the extradition order, beginning the transfer process. His case can modify Italian jurisprudence, opening the door to more extraditions of this type.
First modification:
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Franco Reverberi Boschi has been made available to the Argentine Justice. The priest, an 85-year-old former military chaplain, had been singled out by survivors during trials for crimes against humanity in Mendoza, an Argentine province, in 2011.
The Prosecutor’s Office called him to testify to determine his degree of involvement and responsibility in the kidnappings and torture that occurred in the Clandestine Detention Center (CCD) ‘La Departamental’, in the city of San Rafael, Mendoza, during the military dictatorship of 1976 to 1983. The Italian-Argentine priest did not show up and fled near Parma, an Italian city.
reverberihe refused to give his testimony, explaining that health problems prevented him from returning to Argentina. Subsequently, medical investigations denied his argument and In 2012, the Argentine Justice declared him in absentia.
The judicial process to obtain the extradition began in 2013. Interpol also filed an arrest warrant. However, in Italy, the crime of torture is not imprescriptible.
Argentina’s request was rejected twice.
Future investigations revealed that Franco Reverberi Boschi could be implicated in the case of the murder of José Berón, who disappeared at the end of 1976 in Mendoza. In 2021, Richard Ermili, from the Mendoza Permanent Assembly for Human Rights NGO, filed an updated complaint.
On July 10, 2023, the Bologna Court of Appeals granted Argentina’s request. The Supreme Court of Cassation had ordered the court to issue a new ruling, taking into account the new evidence.
“We are very happy. It is very important because it means that there is no impunity and that Reverberi will be tried like any other defendant”, said Jorge Ithurburu, from the NGO 24 de marzo.
Jorge Ithurburu explains that the extradition is the result of “team work” between the Argentine authorities, particularly the Human Rights Secretariat, the families of the victims, and non-governmental organizations.
On March 24, 1976, the Armed Forces carried out a coup in Argentina and Jorge Rafael Videla took over as de facto president. Today is known in the country as the ‘National Day of Memory for Truth and Justice’. Human rights organizations estimate that 30,000 people were disappeared during the dictatorship.
What is the religious accused of?
Franco Reverberi Boschi is going to be tried for crimes against humanity. Specifically, for a homicide and for the torture of ten people in the CCD ‘La Departamental’.
In 1976, the priest worked as auxiliary chaplain to the VIII Mountain Exploration Squadron of San Rafael. In the trial for crimes against humanity in Mendoza in 2011, survivors reported his presence during the torture sessions of political prisoners.
Witnesses described how he attended the sessions, sometimes in a cassock, other times in military dress. He had weapons in one hand, and a Bible in the other, according to the testimonies.
The trial will seek to determine, among other things, his degree of responsibility in the facts.
A significant advance for the victims of the dictatorship
The case of Franco Reverberi marks a precedent in jurisprudence in Italy.
“As part of this process, the Argentine State promoted the modification of the jurisprudence of the Italian Justice, which only considered the crimes of homicide imprescriptible, to also include torture as crimes against humanity,” declared the Secretariat of Human Rights of Argentina. in a statement, after the extradition was made public.
Now it is expected to move forward with the extradition of the Argentine ex-military Carlos Malatto. Pointed out by the Argentine Justice, he is accused of having committed crimes against humanity against more than 100 people in San Juan, Argentine province. Carlos Malatto also fled to Italy in 2011.
More than 1,000 people have already been sentenced for crimes against humanity under the dictatorship. Following controversial amnesty laws in the late 1980s, trials resumed in the mid-2000s.
The advances of Justice, as well as the initiatives to search for missing persons and stolen babies have tried to contribute to healing the open wounds of seven years of military dictatorship in the southern nation.
With EFE, AFP and local media
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