Life for five young rugby players in a landmark murder trial
The five young Argentinian rugby players were prosecuted for a fatal beating at the exit of a nightclub three years ago.
The court in Dolores where the trial took place was under heavy guard.
AFP
Life sentences were handed down on Monday to five young Argentinian rugby players for a fatal beating outside a nightclub three years ago, the epilogue to a hyper-publicized trial commensurate with the emotion aroused by the murder.
Three other co-defendants of the group of friends aged 21 to 23 were sentenced to fifteen years in prison for “secondary participation” in the murder of Fernando Baez Sosa, an 18-year-old student, beaten and kicked, on January 18, 2020 in Villa Gesell, a seaside resort about 400 km south of Buenos Aires. The court of Dolores, 220 km from the capital, had been trying for four weeks the eight young men for doubly aggravated homicide because committed in a meeting and with premeditation. The drama has generated strong emotion in Argentina, leading to demonstrations in several cities, including Villa Gesell and Buenos Aires.
A highly publicized trial
The trial captured the country’s attention and the verdict, delivered under tight security outside the courthouse, was followed live by several television channels. “Justice for Fernando!” or “Justice is perpetuity!” could we read on placards and t-shirts of relatives of the family of Fernando Baez Sosa, but also of families of victims of similar miscellaneous events. A few dozen demonstrators were kept away from the court by an imposing police cordon.
Life had been requested against the eight young people, the accusation citing a “willingness to kill” shared “by all” and “synchronized coordination”. The defense considered, on the contrary, that the premeditation was in no way proven, and demanded a reclassification as “grievous bodily harm”, having resulted in death without intention to give it, which would have increased the maximum sentence to six years, or “simple homicide” (25 years).
The defendants, teammates of a small rugby club in Zarate, north of Buenos Aires, remained prostrate and silent during most of the trial. After the pleadings, they had briefly spoken one by one, asking for forgiveness and leniency, and assuring, some in tears, to have “never intended to kill”.
A “strong” sentence
When the verdict was announced, one of the lifers, considered to be the leader of the group, Maximo Thomsen, fainted briefly, leading to a break in the session for a few minutes. Outside, cries of joy and tears greeted the verdict, which supporters of the victim’s family followed on television at a nearby cafe, AFP found.
“Today I feel a little peace in my heart (…) a little calm,” Graciela Sosa, Fernando’s mother, told reporters at the end of the day. “Begins a new stage in our life, being able to mourn, learning to live with pain, even if (…) Fernando’s absence is also in perpetuity”. Previously their lawyer, Fernando Burlando, recognized a “strong” sentence, but told the press that he would appeal, aiming for life for all, because according to him justice “showed irrational leniency towards three defendants” .
A possible call
One of the prosecutors, Juan Manuel Davila, also did not rule out an appeal, saying the prosecution was “convinced” that the eight were co-authors, but first wanted to know the recitals of the judgment.
In addition to media fascination bordering on excessiveness, with looping (video surveillance) images of the attack, the “rugbymen’s trial”, as it is known in Argentina, also sparked debates on disturbing themes in Argentine society, such as ordinary violence, the pack effect, the alcoholism of young people, the relationship to masculinity.
He also came to question racism and latent class racism: the victim was the son of Paraguayan immigrants of modest origin and some of the attackers, practicing a sport (rugby) historically associated with the rather well-to-do classes, shouted “Negro de mierda!” during the assault.
AFP
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