Argentine Court Convicts Claudio Villamide Over 44 Deaths in ARA San Juan Disaster
Updated
Updated · Buenos Aires Times · Jul 9
Argentine Court Convicts Claudio Villamide Over 44 Deaths in ARA San Juan Disaster
3 articles · Updated · Buenos Aires Times · Jul 9
Summary
Río Gallegos judges unanimously found former submarine-force commander Claudio Villamide guilty over the 2017 ARA San Juan implosion, giving him a three-year suspended sentence and a six-year ban from public office.
Prosecutors said the 44 deaths were preventable because Villamide ignored the submarine’s deficient condition, pending safety inspections and a 100-metre diving restriction after its mid-life refit.
Three other former naval chiefs — Luis Enrique López Mazzeo, Héctor Aníbal Alonso and Hugo Correa — were acquitted after a trial that ran more than four months and 30 hearings.
Lawyers for the victims’ families called the ruling a historic first in Argentina but said they will appeal after the court publishes its reasoning on Aug. 21, challenging both the acquittals and the lenient sentence.
The ARA San Juan vanished on Nov. 15, 2017 after reporting seawater had entered its ventilation system; its crushed wreck was found a year later 907 metres deep, 500 kilometres off Santa Cruz.