Chilean singer slain in 1973 coup reburied

SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- The body of popular Chilean singer Victor Jara, tortured and shot to death in a 1973 military coup, has been laid to rest once again in a Santiago cemetery.

Thousands of people, some scattering flowers and singing songs, showed up to see Jara's coffin, draped with his trademark red-and-black poncho, carried to the city's general cemetery Friday, the BBC reported. The procession was led by his widow, Joan, now in her 80s, and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet spoke at the service.

"Finally, after 36 years, Victor can rest in peace," Bachelet said. "But there are also lots of other families that want to rest in peace, and that is why it's important that we keep pressing forward in the search for truth and justice, so that Chile can rest in peace. Victor Jara is with us!"

Jara's body was exhumed in June for a court review of the circumstances of his death. It was determined he had been shot more than 30 times.

A former army conscript was charged in his death this year, though those who may have ordered his killing have not been formally identified.

Jara was among thousands of people rounded up in the early days of the right-wing military coup engineered by Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who died in 2006. It is estimated more than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared between 1973 and 1990.