Decision of the Assize Court of Rome of 17 January 2017

The Assize Court of Rome sentenced eight persons to life imprisonment for crimes committed against political opponents, including some Italian nationals, in Latin America between the 1970s and 1980s, at the time when the accused held important position in those regimes. They were found guilty under Article 630.3 of the Italian criminal code, jointly to the perpetrators of enforced disappearances, kidnapping, torturing and manslaughter. These crimes were planned and committed in a systematic manner, with the coordination of the intelligence systems of some Latin American States participating in so-called ‘Condor Plan’, a plan aimed at exchanging information for the purpose of political repression. The Court previously rejected some preliminary exceptions, concerning, on one hand, the dual citizenship and (the alleged) non-Italian nationality of some victims and, on the other, the application of the international lis pendens criterium.