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Original article: Krassnoff, el torturador que Kast ha defendido, vuelve a ser procesado por secuestros del MIR

Former Army Brigadier and ex-agent of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko has been processed again for the kidnapping of members of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.

This time, the extraordinary visiting minister for human rights violation cases of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Marianela Cifuentes Alarcón, issued a processing order against Krassnoff—who is currently serving more than a thousand years in prison—along with four other perpetrators: Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Rolf Gonzalo Wenderoth Pozo, Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, and Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García. They are charged with six completed counts of qualified kidnapping, crimes committed between February and September 1975 in the municipalities of La Cisterna, San Miguel, and San Bernardo.

Specifically, the five ex-agents are implicated in the kidnapping of J.A.S.V. Furthermore, Wenderoth, Krassnoff, Lauriani, and Godoy are facing charges for the illegal detention of H.A.E.C., L.A.R.M., S.G.P.R., M.E.G.R., and N.R.V.L.

Minister Cifuentes’ investigation gathered sufficient evidence to reconstruct the torment suffered by the victims. The findings, established in the resolution, illustrate a systematic pattern of violence: after being illegally detained at their homes or places of study, all prisoners were taken to the clandestine detention center “Villa Grimaldi.” Here, they were held for days, subjected to interrogations and a torture ordeal including beatings, forced nudity, electric shocks, burns with cigarettes, threats, and in some cases, torture in front of their family members. Subsequently, some were transferred to other facilities such as “Cuatro Álamos,” “Tres Álamos,” “Ritoque,” or “Puchuncaví.”

The ruling details each of these instances. Regarding the case of J.A.S.V., it notes that he was arrested on February 7, 1975, in La Cisterna and taken to Villa Grimaldi, where he “was repeatedly subjected to interrogations and physical and psychological mistreatment such as beatings, electric shocks, and witnessing the torture inflicted on his father, along with threats.” In another instance, it describes that S.G.P.R., a teacher and spouse of another detainee (L.A.R.M.), was burned with cigarettes and subjected to electric shocks “even in the presence of her husband.” The context of these crimes, adds the resolution, was the DINA under Colonel Manuel Contreras, with Villa Grimaldi managed by Major Marcelo Moren Brito, with Krassnoff as the head of the Halcón group, Lauriani leading the Vampiro group, and Godoy directing the Tucán group.

Kast’s Defense of Krassnoff

Despite numerous convictions against him, Krassnoff, known as “The Russian,” who is serving more than 1,000 years in prison at the former Punta Peuco—now Til Til prison—has never acknowledged his involvement in the crimes committed under DINA during the dictatorship. However, he has been defended by right-wing political figures and Pinochet supporters, including José Antonio Kast.

In 2017, during an interview with T13 Radio, Kast downplayed the charges against the torturer, labeling them as “things that are said about him.” The then-presidential candidate justified his stance by recounting his personal meeting with Krassnoff in prison.

“He gave me his book, presenting his version of events. I know Miguel Krassnoff and seeing him, I don’t believe all the things that are said about him,” he stated, attempting to validate the ex-military’s perspective:

“I do not question that crimes were committed, human rights violations, I do not dispute that. What I question are the prosecutions,” he added, who currently holds the presidency of Chile.

With this new processing, the Chilean judiciary reaffirms its stance that those responsible for DINA’s terror machinery remain subject to investigation and sanction, regardless of attempts to downplay their crimes.

You can access the resolution through this link.

La entrada Miguel Krassnoff, Torturer Defended by Kast, Faces New Charges for Kidnappings Linked to MIR se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.