BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A former Argentine dictator, a top general and 28 others convicted of crimes against humanity have been sentenced to life in prison, authorities say.
Former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, 85, was sentenced in the Court of Cordoba for the state-sponsored campaign of kidnapping and killing of tens of thousands of people during the military junta's so-called Dirty War on leftist opponents of his regime after he overthrew President Isabel Peron in 1976, CNN reported Wednesday.
In a separate proceeding, Gen. Luciano Benjamín Menendez was sentenced to life in prison for violating the human rights of four people. Other military leaders were given prison sentences of varying lengths for kidnapping, torture and killing from 1976 to 1983, the Buenos Aires Herald reported.
Argentina had struck down pardons issued during the 1980s, paving the way for the return of human rights trials.
Videla previously had been found guilty of kidnapping, torture and homicide, and sentenced in 1985 to life in prison sentence -- but was pardoned, along with many other former members of the military dictatorship, in 1990 by then-President Carlos Menem, CNN said.
"Much of what took place in the 70's has been distorted, and perverse facts about the war have been concealed," Videla said.
