MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former Uruguayan military officer convicted of 1977 murder of Communist militant

Ferro had been extradited from Spain in 1977

Retired Uruguayan Colonel Eduardo Ferro was sentenced Monday to 21 years in jail for the July 21, 1977, disappearance and murder of Communist militant Óscar Tassino, it was reported in Montevideo.

Judge Silvia Urioste's ruling came after Ferro was extradited from Spain in March 2021. Ferro had been indicted in April 2021. Tassino was 40 years old at the time of his disappearance. He was married and had three children.

The prosecution had requested Ferro's conviction for the crimes of deprivation of liberty, serious injuries, and abuse of authority against detainees, but the judge understood that he should be sentenced for Tassino's forced disappearance because, as long as Tassino's remains do not appear, it generates “particular effects on its temporal application.”

At the time of Tassino's crime, Ferro was a captain. Also participating in the murder were Ernesto Ramas and Jorge “Pajarito” Silveira. Tassino's kidnapping reportedly took place at 9 am in Montevideo's Carrasco North area, at the home of Hermes Luis Fulles, where he was living clandestinely, from where he was abducted through violence in a white Peugeot car. The owners of the house were released and went into exile.

Ferro has been reported to have an extensive intelligence background and a wide experience in the detention of militants of outlawed organizations, in addition to having been trained abroad.

In March 2017 Ferro escaped but was subsequently arrested and extradited from Spain. He was sentenced Friday “as co-perpetrator of the crime of forced disappearance to 21 years in prison.” The time he remained under house arrest shall count as time served, it was also explained.