A federal court threw out amnesties Wednesday for former military President Jorge Videla and Navy chief Eduardo Massera, saying they must serve out their life prison terms for crimes against humanity, according to AP. Videla and Massera were leading members of the military junta that seized power in 1976 and waged a dirty war against their political opponents. Sentenced to life terms after a 1985 trial following Argentina's return to democracy, they were granted amnesties just five years later by President Carlos Menem, who freed them from a military prison. Wednesday's decision, read to The Associated Press by a clerk for the Federal Criminal Court, declared the amnesties to be unconstitutional. Videla was found guilty of 66 homicides, the torture of 93 other people and the illegal confinement of more than 300. Massera was convicted of three killings, the torture of 12 people and the illegal confinement of 69 dissidents. The court did not rule Wednesday on amnesties granted to other convicted military chiefs, Orlando Agosti, Roberto Viola and Armando Lambruschini, who have since died.
