Julio César Strassera
Encyclopedia
Julio César Strassera is an Argentine lawyer and jurist. He served as Chief Prosecutor during the historic 1985 Trial of the Juntas.
in 1933. He attended the prestigious Colegio San José college preparatory school, left two years shy of graduation, and returned to complete his secondary studies. He would later enroll at the University of Buenos Aires
and earn a juris doctor
in 1963. He was named Secretary of a Buenos Aires Federal Court shortly after the March 1976 coup, and was later appointed as a Federal Prosecutor
.
, and a large number of Habeas Corpus
inquiries were solicited at his office during this period, many from friends and family of political prisoners. Strassera, however, refused to file most of these. Some of the most notable cases thereof included that of former Santa Cruz
Governor Jorge Cepernic
, who had been arrested following the coup, and whose property had been seized without due process
and of Lidia Papaleo, whose majority ownership of newsprint manufacturer Papel Prensa
was allegedly seized from her under duress following the death of her husband, financier David Graiver
. Strassera was charged with investigating possible links between the late banker and the Montoneros
guerrilla organization, and asked for a sentence of five years' imprisonment for the widow. His motion and appeal to this effect were both denied, however.
Another contentious motion filed by Strassera as prosecutor pertained to the July 4, 1976, San Patricio Church massacre
, charges related to which he successfully moved to have the presiding judge drop. Strassera was named Criminal court Judge in 1981, an appointment he considered a demotion since he would be relegated to "sentencing chicken thieves."
in 1983, and following the president's October 4, 1984, decision to have leading members of the military dictatorship
tried by a civilian appeals court, Strassera was offered the post of Chief Counsel for the Prosecution by the Minister of Justice, Carlos Alconada Aramburú.
Strassera appointed Assistant Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo
, who at the time served as counsel in the Solicitor General's department. Both men had served in Justice Ministry posts during the dictatorship, and both would now prosecute crimes against humanity by its leaders; they were also the only two of the many prosecutors contacted who accepted the challenging posts.
The difficulty of gathering evidence and testimony from reluctant witnesses for this, the first proceedings of their kind since the Nürnberg Trials (and the fist conducted in a civilian court), was compounded by pressure from many of the implicated in the abuses and their allies. Strassera's office was contacted on numerous occasions from the former Interior Minister during the dictatorship, General Albano Harguindeguy
, as well as right-wing figures in the ruling UCR
itself, and during the trial itself, 29 bomb threats were received in Buenos Aires schools and a number were detonated in key government installations.
Hearings officially began on April 22, 1985, upon which Strassera presented 709 cases to the presiding tribunal. Ultimately, 280 were heard, and 833 witnesses testified (including a former President, General Alejandro Lanusse, and writer Jorge Luís Borges
). The number of defendants, however, were narrowed to the nine leading junta members in power from 1976 to 1982, and would exclude the roughly 600 officers charged at the time with abuses in courts across the country.
The last day of testimony took place on August 14. Strassera presented charges against the nine defendants (including three former Presidents) on September 11. He argued that sentences for each defendant be dictated by the proven role of each military junta
in the cases heard by the court; the tribunal, however, ruled that sentencing should be determined by the role of each brach of the Argentine Armed Forces in each case, thereby lessening sentences for the Air Force
commanders on trial.
Strassera presented closing arguments on September 18, saying:
, of three others to lighter sentences, and the acquittal of four others for insufficient evidence proved a disappointment to most supporters of the trials. The 1986 — 87 enactment of the Full Stop Law and the Law of Due Obedience
effectively halted most remaining prosecutions, moreover, and those sentenced were ultimately pardoned in 1989 and 1990 by President Carlos Menem
.
Strassera subsequently represented Argentina at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
and related international organizations. Following Menem's pardons, he resigned his government posts, and joined the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights
, one of the leading non-governmental human rights organizations in Argentina.
The noted prosecutor and jurist would remain a controversial figure in Argentina, however. Strassera defended Buenos Aires Mayor Aníbal Ibarra
during his 2005 impeachment trial against charges of negligence as the city's chief magistrate during the deadly República Cromañón nightclub fire. He later became a vocal opponent of Kirchnerism
despite the numerous changes enacted by President Néstor Kirchner
that allowed trials of hitherto immune Dirty War perpetrators to proceed. He opposed the extradition
request against former President Isabel Perón (whose authorization of Operativo Independencia
in 1975 arguably began the Dirty War), and insinuated that the Kirchners were needlessly prolonging trials against indicted officers for political expediency.
Amid a series of controversies between Clarín and Kirchnerism
, an exchange of accusations followed Strassera's defense of the Clarín Media Group
's claim that Papel Prensa had been acquired lawfully from the Graivers. Cabinet Chief Aníbal Fernández
pointed to Strassera's sanctions against lawyers who presented Habeas Corpus petitions during the 1976 — 83 dictatorship as proof that his role in the subsequent Trial of the Juntas was merely pretense, and Strassera, in turn, accused the Kirchners of "never having done anything for human rights in Argentina
," and instead "dedicating themselves to making money."
Early life
Strassera was born in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in 1933. He attended the prestigious Colegio San José college preparatory school, left two years shy of graduation, and returned to complete his secondary studies. He would later enroll at the University of Buenos Aires
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...
and earn a juris doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
in 1963. He was named Secretary of a Buenos Aires Federal Court shortly after the March 1976 coup, and was later appointed as a Federal Prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
.
Role during the Dirty War
His tenure as Federal Prosecutor coincided with the height of the Dirty WarDirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
, and a large number of Habeas Corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
inquiries were solicited at his office during this period, many from friends and family of political prisoners. Strassera, however, refused to file most of these. Some of the most notable cases thereof included that of former Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Province (Argentina)
Santa Cruz is a province of Argentina, located in the southern part of the country, in Patagonia. It borders Chubut province to the north, and Chile to the west and south. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean...
Governor Jorge Cepernic
Jorge Cepernic
Jorge Cepernic was an Argentine politician and Governor of Santa Cruz Province between 1973 and 1974.In 1974, during the Isabel Martínez de Perón office, he was removed from office and then five years inmate in the Magdalena jail. Afterwards he was prisoner with his family in his farm nearby El...
, who had been arrested following the coup, and whose property had been seized without due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
and of Lidia Papaleo, whose majority ownership of newsprint manufacturer Papel Prensa
Papel Prensa
Papel Prensa is the largest Argentine manufacturer of newsprint, furnishing 75% of the local market in the staple. The public–private partnership became the focus of one of a series of controversies between Clarín and Kirchnerism in 2010.-Establishment:Papel Prensa originated in the establishment...
was allegedly seized from her under duress following the death of her husband, financier David Graiver
David Graiver
David Graiver was an Argentine businessman and banker whose business interests would become the focus of investigations and intrigue during his short life, as well as since his death.-Early life and career:...
. Strassera was charged with investigating possible links between the late banker and the Montoneros
Montoneros
Montoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...
guerrilla organization, and asked for a sentence of five years' imprisonment for the widow. His motion and appeal to this effect were both denied, however.
Another contentious motion filed by Strassera as prosecutor pertained to the July 4, 1976, San Patricio Church massacre
San Patricio Church massacre
The St. Patrick’s Church massacre was the murder of three priests and two seminarians of the Pallottine order on July 4, 1976, during the Argentine military junta’s “Dirty War”, at St...
, charges related to which he successfully moved to have the presiding judge drop. Strassera was named Criminal court Judge in 1981, an appointment he considered a demotion since he would be relegated to "sentencing chicken thieves."
Trial of the Juntas
He was reappointed prosecutor, however, following the election of President Raúl AlfonsínRaúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
in 1983, and following the president's October 4, 1984, decision to have leading members of the military dictatorship
National Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...
tried by a civilian appeals court, Strassera was offered the post of Chief Counsel for the Prosecution by the Minister of Justice, Carlos Alconada Aramburú.
Strassera appointed Assistant Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo
Luis Moreno Ocampo
José Luis Moreno OcampoMoreno Ocampo's surnames are often hyphenated in English-language media to distinguish Moreno as a surname, rather than a given name. is an Argentine lawyer who has been the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court since June 16, 2003...
, who at the time served as counsel in the Solicitor General's department. Both men had served in Justice Ministry posts during the dictatorship, and both would now prosecute crimes against humanity by its leaders; they were also the only two of the many prosecutors contacted who accepted the challenging posts.
The difficulty of gathering evidence and testimony from reluctant witnesses for this, the first proceedings of their kind since the Nürnberg Trials (and the fist conducted in a civilian court), was compounded by pressure from many of the implicated in the abuses and their allies. Strassera's office was contacted on numerous occasions from the former Interior Minister during the dictatorship, General Albano Harguindeguy
Albano Harguindeguy
Albano Eduardo Harguindeguy was a general of the Argentine Army, and the interior minister of Argentina under dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, during the National Reorganization Process ....
, as well as right-wing figures in the ruling UCR
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
itself, and during the trial itself, 29 bomb threats were received in Buenos Aires schools and a number were detonated in key government installations.
Hearings officially began on April 22, 1985, upon which Strassera presented 709 cases to the presiding tribunal. Ultimately, 280 were heard, and 833 witnesses testified (including a former President, General Alejandro Lanusse, and writer Jorge Luís Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
). The number of defendants, however, were narrowed to the nine leading junta members in power from 1976 to 1982, and would exclude the roughly 600 officers charged at the time with abuses in courts across the country.
The last day of testimony took place on August 14. Strassera presented charges against the nine defendants (including three former Presidents) on September 11. He argued that sentences for each defendant be dictated by the proven role of each military junta
Military junta
A junta or military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish language junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors...
in the cases heard by the court; the tribunal, however, ruled that sentencing should be determined by the role of each brach of the Argentine Armed Forces in each case, thereby lessening sentences for the Air Force
Argentine Air Force
The Argentine Air Force is the national aviation branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. , it had 14,606 military and 6,854 civilian staff.-History:...
commanders on trial.
Strassera presented closing arguments on September 18, saying:
Later career
The December 9 sentencing of General Jorge Videla and Admiral Eduardo Massera to life imprisonmentLife imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
, of three others to lighter sentences, and the acquittal of four others for insufficient evidence proved a disappointment to most supporters of the trials. The 1986 — 87 enactment of the Full Stop Law and the Law of Due Obedience
Ley de Obediencia Debida
Ley de Obediencia Debida was a law passed by the National Congress of Argentina after the end of the military dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional . Formally, this law is referred to by number Ley de Obediencia Debida (Spanish, Law of Due Obedience) was a law passed by the...
effectively halted most remaining prosecutions, moreover, and those sentenced were ultimately pardoned in 1989 and 1990 by President Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
.
Strassera subsequently represented Argentina at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006...
and related international organizations. Following Menem's pardons, he resigned his government posts, and joined the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights
Permanent Assembly for Human Rights
The Permanent Assembly for Human Rights is an Argentine non-governmental human rights organization; founded in 1975.- History :...
, one of the leading non-governmental human rights organizations in Argentina.
The noted prosecutor and jurist would remain a controversial figure in Argentina, however. Strassera defended Buenos Aires Mayor Aníbal Ibarra
Aníbal Ibarra
Aníbal Ibarra is an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Buenos Aires from 2000 to 2006.-Biography:Ibarra was born in Lomas de Zamora, a district located in the southern region of Greater Buenos Aires. His father was a Paraguayan member of the PLRA who left his country during the...
during his 2005 impeachment trial against charges of negligence as the city's chief magistrate during the deadly República Cromañón nightclub fire. He later became a vocal opponent of Kirchnerism
Kirchnerism
Kirchnerism is a term used to refer to the political philosophy and supporters of Néstor Kirchner, president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, and of his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President from 2007...
despite the numerous changes enacted by President Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
that allowed trials of hitherto immune Dirty War perpetrators to proceed. He opposed the extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
request against former President Isabel Perón (whose authorization of Operativo Independencia
Operativo Independencia
Operativo Independencia was the code-name of the Argentine military operation in the Tucumán Province, started in 1975, to crush the ERP , a Guevarist guerrilla group which attempted to secede part of Tucuman as an independent nation, in the north-west of Argentina...
in 1975 arguably began the Dirty War), and insinuated that the Kirchners were needlessly prolonging trials against indicted officers for political expediency.
Amid a series of controversies between Clarín and Kirchnerism
Controversies between Clarín and Kirchnerism
The Argentine media corporation Grupo Clarín and the government of Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner have been involved in a number of controversies since 2008...
, an exchange of accusations followed Strassera's defense of the Clarín Media Group
Grupo Clarín
Grupo Clarín is the largest media conglomerate of Argentina.-Overview:Established as such in 1999, it includes the Clarín newspaper , Papel Prensa , the Artear media company, and numerous other media outlets.Rooted in the successful, 1945 launch of the centrist daily,...
's claim that Papel Prensa had been acquired lawfully from the Graivers. Cabinet Chief Aníbal Fernández
Aníbal Fernández
Aníbal Domingo Fernández is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician, who served as Interior Minister for President Néstor Kirchner, Minister of Justice for President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and is currently the President's Cabinet Chief.-Biography:Born in Quilmes, Buenos Aires Province,...
pointed to Strassera's sanctions against lawyers who presented Habeas Corpus petitions during the 1976 — 83 dictatorship as proof that his role in the subsequent Trial of the Juntas was merely pretense, and Strassera, in turn, accused the Kirchners of "never having done anything for human rights in Argentina
Human rights in Argentina
The Dirty War, a state-sponsored violence against Argentine citizenry from roughly 1976 to 1983, was carried out primarily by Jorge Rafael Videla's military government, ended years ago, and the human rights situation in Argentina has improved since.-History:...
," and instead "dedicating themselves to making money."