Argentina to try Dutch-Argentinian pilot

[Judi Lynn]

Argentina to try Dutch-Argentinian pilot
Published on : 23 June 2010 - 10:43pm | By RNW News Desk

Argentina is going to try a Dutch-Argentinian pilot suspected of being an accomplice in the murder and disappearance of 615 people during the country's military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983. The judge ordered Julio Poch, 58, to remain in custody in Argentina while awaiting his trial.

The judge also ordered Mr Poch to pay 615 million Argentinian pesos, or 128 million euros, as potential compensation for each of the 615 victims. Mr Poch's savings and belongings will be impounded to raise that sum. After questioning him three times, the judge either had to extend his custody or release him.

The former navy lieutenant is accused of flying planes from which prisoners were dumped alive into the sea. Some 30,000 people disappeared or died during the military junta "dirty war" between 1976 and 1983.

He is said to have been trained at Argentina's notorious Naval Mechanics School, one of the biggest torture and detention centres of the military regime.

More:
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/argentina-try-dutch-argentinian-pilot

http://3.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_Wt5fEfiCuTA/SxOMPgCLqMI/AAAAAAAAAUw/fPk8p0IOQ0s/s1600/POCH.jpg

http://www.south-pole.com.nyud.net:8090/poch05.jpg
June 26, 2010
Argentina indicts 'death flights' navy pilot From correspondents in Buenos Aires From: AFP June 24, 2010 10:42AM

A FORMER navy pilot who flew so-called "death flights'' during Argentina's military dictatorship, was charged overnight with kidnapping, torture and murder and remanded in custody, a court official said.
Julio Poch, 57, fled to the Netherlands with his family in the early 1980s and was detained in Spain in September on an arrest warrant from Argentina, where he was finally extradited to last month.

Judge Sergio Torres overnight read Mr Poch his charges, which include kidnappings, tortures and murders related to the notorious ESMA (Naval Mechanics School) - a torture site used by the former 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

The "death flights'' were a way for the dictatorship to dispose of political opponents, who were drugged, flown out over the ocean in military planes, and then thrown into the sea.

Witnesses have said Mr Poch was one of the pilots.

Mr Poch, who holds dual Argentine-Dutch citizenship, was also specifically charged with the kidnappings of two French nuns, Alice Domon and Leonie Duquet, Swedish national Dagmar Hagelin and Argentine writer-journalist Rodolfo Walsh.

More:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/argentina-indicts-death-flights-navy-pilot/story-e6frf7jx-1225883663982