Maria Eugenia Sampallo
Encyclopedia
Maria Eugenia Sampallo is an Argentinian
known for being the first person to take a couple who illegally adopted her as a baby to court for kidnapping her when her parents disappeared
along with thousands of others in a military purge of radicals, dissidents and leftist sympathizers, known as the Dirty War
. On April 4, 2008 the couple who adopted her were sentenced to 8 and 7 years in prison.
tests indicated that they were her parents so she pressed a prosecution against Osvaldo Rivas and Maria Cristina Gomez, who illegally adopted her, along with Army Captain Enrique Berthier, who furnished the couple with the baby, whom it is assumed was born in a detention centre. There have been criticisms of the leniency of the sentence.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
known for being the first person to take a couple who illegally adopted her as a baby to court for kidnapping her when her parents disappeared
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
along with thousands of others in a military purge of radicals, dissidents and leftist sympathizers, known as the Dirty War
Dirty 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...
. On April 4, 2008 the couple who adopted her were sentenced to 8 and 7 years in prison.
Details
Her mother, Mirta Mabel Barragan, was arrested along with her father, Leonardo Ruben Sampallo, in December 1977 when her mother was 6 months pregnant with Sampallo. Her grandmother then spent 24 years looking for her. In 2001 DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
tests indicated that they were her parents so she pressed a prosecution against Osvaldo Rivas and Maria Cristina Gomez, who illegally adopted her, along with Army Captain Enrique Berthier, who furnished the couple with the baby, whom it is assumed was born in a detention centre. There have been criticisms of the leniency of the sentence.
See also
- Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
- The Official StoryThe Official StoryThe Official Story is a 1985 Argentine drama film directed by Luis Puenzo, and written by Puenzo and Aída Bortnik. It stars Norma Aleandro, Héctor Alterio, and Chunchuna Villafañe, among others. In the United Kingdom, it was released as The Official Version.The film is about an upper middle class...
, a movie related to the "stolen babies" case - CautivaCautivaCautiva is a 2005 Argentine film that concerns itself with what happened to the children of the people killed after the 1970s military coup. The film states it was made with the support of Argentine National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts...
, another movie related to the "stolen babies" case