A court in Chile has convicted three ex-intelligence agents of the 1974 murder of a leftist leader during the Pinochet military dictatorship. Thousands of opponents were systematically exterminated by the brutal regime.
Chilean police escort inmate Miguel Krassnoff, who is serving multiple sentences for crimes against humanity Image: picture-alliance/dpaF.Trueba
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A Chilean judge on Wednesday handed down sentences to three members of General Augusto Pinochet's secret police for the assassination of Miguel Enriquez, the former head of Chile's Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).
Enriquez was gunned down outside an MIR safe-house in a working-class suburb south of the capital, Santiago, on October 5, 1974.
Judge Mario Carroza ordered Miguel Krassnoff, a high-ranking member of Chilean intelligence agency DINA, to serve 10 years in prison for the murder. His two accomplices, Rodolfo Concha and Teresa Osorio, were each sentenced to three years with probation.
The judge told the court that dozens of DINA agents surrounded the house in San Miguel, where Enriquez was hiding out with his pregnant partner Carmen Castillo, before unleashing "an armed offensive…without requesting they surrender so that they could be detained."
Enriquez tried to flee across the rooftops of neighboring houses but was ultimately cornered and shot dead.
The court ordered the state to pay 50 million pesos (about €68,000 or $82,000) in compensation to each of his two sons.
43 years later
Krassnoff, 71, is already serving more than a hundred years in prison after being convicted of multiple counts of crimes against humanity in other cases.
Miguel Enriquez's son Marco Enriquez Ominami, who ran as a presidential candidate in Chile's 2009 and 2013 elections, wrote on Twitter that he had waited 43 years for justice.
"Justice takes time, but it is done (in the end)," he said. "They can express opinions, vilify or invent, but justice is done by the courts. Without hate or violence, we as a family value the ruling. My thoughts are with my grandparents, who died waiting."
The Marxist MIR mounted a campaign of armed resistance against the military dictatorship that took hold following the coup that overthrew Socialist President Salvador Allende in 1973.
The new regime sought to wipe out all forms of dissent, prompting many activists to flee the country. More than 3,000 Chileans were murdered by state agents during Augusto Pinochet's brutal regime between 1974 and 1990. Up to 40,000 people were imprisoned and systematically tortured.
Artists After the Escape: Chile's coup, dictatorship and the path to democracy
September 11, 1973 changed the lives of many Chileans forever. A coup against President Allende brought Augusto Pinochet to power. Sixteen years later, a spectacular campaign toppled the dictator.
Image: DW/S. Spröer
Chile's September 11
September 11, 1973, changed the lives of many Chileans forever. General Augusto Pinochet, commander in chief of the Chilean army, overthrew the incumbent socialist president, Salvador Allende. The military bombarded the presidential palace "La Moneda" in the capital Santiago, arrested government supporters, leftists and Pinochet opponents.
Image: OFF/AFP/Getty Images
Salvador Allende, a people's president
The socialist president had only been in office for three years before the coup. After having nationalized companies and dispossessed great land owners, his government faced massive opposition. The US didn't approve of the socialist leader in South America either. With the help of the CIA, Washington boycotted Allende's economic policies and incited Chile's media against the government.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The president's death
President Allende committed suicide on the day of the coup, stating in his farewell speech that his commitment to Chile did not allow him to take an easy way out. The photo above shows soldiers and firefighters carrying his body from the presidential palace. Meanwhile, the Estadio Nacional stadium was used as a concentration camp: 40,000 people were detained there, thousands tortured and killed.
Image: picture-alliance/AP
A stadium as a concentration camp
Walter Ramirez, cameraman for DW's "After the Escape" feature, was also arrested. A student at the time, he was walking with a friend when soldiers arrested the two of them on September 11, 1973. His friend not only had long hair, he also had Argentinian pesos on him, which he needed to travel to his wife and son in Argentina. For days, the alleged "traitors" were kept in the national stadium.
Image: DW/S. Spröer
Shots in the changing room
Walter Ramirez and his friend were locked into a changing room with nearly 100 other men. They all needed to share two bathrooms, while bored soldiers shot at the windows. After several days, Walter and his friend were released. To this day, he doesn't know why. Could it be because his father worked for a US company? The topic is taboo in his family.
Image: DW/S. Spröer
General turned dictator: Augusto Pinochet
The head behind the coup was General Augusto Pinochet, supreme commander of the armed forces. He governed Chile from 1973 until 1990 in a dictatorial style. Political parties and leftist trade unions were forbidden. Freedom of opinion ceased to exist. Despite all this, the Pinochet regime continued to be supported by the US, as well as some politicians in Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Torture, assassinations and book burnings
Chilean artists, writers and intellectuals were also persecuted. Song writer Victor Jara was arrested, tortured and shot to death in a basketball stadium in Santiago. Books written by authors regarded as bothersome were burnt on the streets. Numerous opponents of the regime were to leave Chile over the next months and years.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
Antonio Skarmeta: exile in Berlin
Author and university professor Antonio Skarmeta also fled Chile in 1973. For 16 years, he lived in exile in Berlin where he wrote "Nixpassiert" (Nothing Happened) and "The Postman," two highly successful books that were adapted into film several times. Exile was a theme that would dominate his life. His story is told in the DW special feature, "After the Escape."
Image: WDR
Isabel Allende's flight from Chile
Another internationally acclaimed writer who left Chile is Isabel Allende, author of the bestseller "The House of the Spirits." In 1975, the journalist and women's rights activist fled to Venezuela. Incidentally, President Salvador Allende was not her uncle, as is often claimed, but the cousin of her father. In her novel "Paula," she describes her years in exile. She now lives in the US.
Image: VICTOR ROJAS/AFP/Getty Images
Numbered days for Pinochet
In August 1987, dictator Augusto Pinochet oversaw a military parade in honor of the 14th anniversary of his coup (picture). But his days were numbered. A national referendum on his political future was planned for October 1988. The opponents of his dictatorship mobilized all available forces. With a spectacular action, they initiated change for Chile.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A successful No campaign
In October 1988, the Chilean population decided whether or not Augusto Pinochet should run as the sole candidate during the next elections. Yes or no? A colorful campaign mobilized the masses. A majority dared to say no. It was the beginning of the end of the dictatorship.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/epa
Peaceful transition to democracy
In 1990, Pinochet handed over power to Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin (right). However, until 1998, Pinochet continued serving as supreme commander of the armed forces. Implicated in over 300 criminal charges, a final verdict wasn't reached by the International Criminal Court before Augusto Pinochet's death at the age of 91, on December 10, 2006.
Image: Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile
The dictatorship's legacy in a divided society
It took a long time for Chile to deal with its former dictatorship. Democracy has by no means solved all problems. On this photo from March 2017, people demonstrate against the AFP pension system, which was privatized during the Pinochet era and still excludes many people from obtaining a pension. The dictatorship continues to haunt the country, but at least people can now demonstrate for change.
