litary leader during Argentina’s “dirty war” was indicted Tuesday on charges of kidnapping the children of dissidents who disappeared during the violent era.
Jorge Rafael Videla, a member of the junta that seized power in a 1976 coup, has been held since late June while a judge questioned him on accusations of child abduction and forgery of identity documents.
Marquevich ordered Videla, 72, to remain in jail until the start of his court case, and placed a lien of $5 million against his assets in the event of any damage award.
Details of Videla’s next court appearance were not immediately available.
Argentina says 9,000 people disappeared between 1976 and 1983 and are presumed dead, but human rights groups put the number closer to 30,000.
Videla’s lawyers contended that he had already been judged and absolved of similar charges in 1985 and they are expected to appeal Tuesday’s decision.
Videla was sentenced to life in prison in 1985 for human rights abuses during the dictatorship, but was pardoned along with all middle- and senior-ranking officers in 1990 by President Carlos Menem.