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Argentine judge rules pardon of junta leader illegal

A federal court judge ruled unconstitutional on Tuesday a 1990 presidential pardon of former junta leader Jorge Rafael Videla, under investigation for alleged crimes committed during Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship, the state news agency Telam said.

Norberto Oyarbide's decision was reported by agency, but the judge did not issue a statement or comment to local reporters about his ruling.

The ruling was another legal setback for 81-year-old Videla, who legal experts predicted would appeal. Argentina's Sup-reme Court will have the final say on the pardon.

The move comes a day after Oyarbide also declared invalid the 1990 pardons of former economy minister Jose Alfredo Martinez de Hoz, and former interior minister, the retired General Albano Harguindeguy, in connection with an investigation of two dictatorship-era abductions.

Both men were part of Videla's junta Cabinet when he led the March 24, 1976, coup that toppled the constitutional president, Maria Estela Martinez de Peron, and ushered in seven years of military rule. Former president Carlos Menem pardoned all three in 1990 as part of a blanket pardon of military officers for crimes committed during the dictatorship.

Nearly 13,000 people are officially listed killed or missing as a result of what prosecutors described as the dictatorship's systematic crackdown on dissent, known as the Dirty War. Human rights groups say the toll is closer to 30,000.

Prosecutors have said the three men are wanted for questioning in connection with the abduction and alleged extortion attempts against textile magnate Federico Gutheim, and his son, Miguel, who were held between 1976-1977.

Videla is under house arrest in connection with other investigations dating from the Dirty War, including a probe into an alleged plan of illegal adoptions of children born to political prisoners. He led the junta during the harshest period of the dictatorship through 1981.
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