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Original article: La memoria no prescribe: condenan a exagentes DINA por secuestros de fotógrafo y profesor vistos por última vez en Villa Grimaldi

In a landmark ruling underscoring that memory cannot fade, Paola Plaza González, the minister overseeing human rights cases at the Santiago Court of Appeals, has convicted two former agents of the notorious National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for the kidnappings of a photographer and a professor who were last seen in the clandestine facility of Villa Grimaldi in December 1974, during the height of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.

The judge found Pedro Espinoza Bravo and Rolf Wenderoth Pozo criminally responsible as perpetrators of the aggravated kidnappings of M.B.B. and H.M.E., sentencing each to 15 years in prison along with the additional penalties of lifelong disqualification from holding public office and political rights, as well as a complete professional disqualification for the duration of their sentence.

This ruling, documented under case number 1,176-2018, is built on an undeniable historical foundation: the military regime established on September 11, 1973, implemented a systematic policy of persecution and repression against those labeled as opponents or harmful to its objectives. This terror apparatus, operating with the complicity of state and civilian agents, normalized extrajudicial killings, home invasions, various types of torture— including sexual assaults—arbitrary detentions, and enforced disappearances. To carry out these practices, intelligence agencies utilized not only clandestine barracks but also official military facilities, turning the national territory into a scene of massive violations of fundamental rights.

By December 1974, the repressive machinery was fully operational under DINA’s command, a structured organization with its own resources, military hierarchy, and secret detention centers. Within the Metropolitan Region, the Metropolitan Intelligence Brigade (BIM) served as the execution arm, headed by Army officials advised by a general staff processing intelligence information. This chain of command maintained information channels with their superiors, documenting lists of detained individuals, and the final fate of the prisoners depended on this registry. The ruling highlights that many of those names were erased from both physical and documentary records, a practice that rendered disappearance a method of annihilation.

According to the judgment, on December 23, 1974, M.B.B., a 42-year-old photographer and socialist militant, was intercepted by plainclothes agents at a Christmas fair located at Vicuña Mackenna and Diez de Julio. He was taken in a white C-10 truck along with two companions, one of whom was released along the way, and the other at the detention center where they arrived. On the same day, H.M.E., a 27-year-old professor and assistant to the photographer, was captured by the same agents while arriving at the home of a third party in Villa Portales. Both were taken to Villa Grimaldi, the last location on the map where they were seen alive; from that moment, all traces of them vanished.

The court’s decision not only seeks to punish the crime but also serves as a reminder that memory cannot fade. By establishing that the aggravated kidnappings were crimes against humanity, Judge Plaza González effectively nullifies any attempts at amnesty or prescription, asserting that the pursuit of justice is an ethical imperative that transcends legal time limits.

The conviction of Espinoza and Wenderoth, two cogs in that criminal structure, reinforces that torture centers like Villa Grimaldi represent open wounds that demand reparation and acknowledgment.

La entrada Memory Prevails: Former DINA Agents Convicted for Kidnapping a Photographer and a Professor Last Seen at Villa Grimaldi se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.