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'Dirty War' witness hunt launched Fear for lost 'Dirty War' witness
(about 10 hours later)
Argentina's President says a nationwide search has begun for an elderly man who disappeared nine days ago as he was testifying in a "Dirty War" trial. Tens of thousands of people marched through the centre of the Argentine capital calling for more be done to find a missing "Dirty War" witness.
Jorge Julio Lopez, 77, had been giving evidence that he had been tortured by a former police commissioner during the country's military dictatorship. Julio Lopez was a key witness at the trial of a former police chief on human rights crimes committed under military rule in the 1970s and 80s.
The provincial government in La Plata, where he lived, is offering a $67,000 (£35,000) reward for finding him. Mr Lopez, 77, disappeared the day before the sentencing.
"We're looking for him... almost with desperation," said Mr Kirchner. Most marchers fear the worst - that he was kidnapped and killed by supporters of the 1976-83 military government.
Mr Lopez went missing a day before former police commissioner Miguel Etchecolatz was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity. He was tortured by agents working for that government and gave key evidence in the trial of former police chief Miguel Etchecolatz, who was sentenced to life imprisonment last week for kidnap, torture and murder.
His son had gone to his house to take him to the last day of the trial. An estimated 30,000 people were kidnapped and killed under military rule.
Family members were quoted by Reuters news agency as saying Mr Lopez may have gone into hiding. They became known as "the disappeared" since most of their bodies have never been found.
The Buenos Aires provincial minister of government, Florencio Randazzo, told Identidad radio. "Everything makes us believe his disappearance had something to do with [the trial]." Now human rights activists are talking about Julio Lopez being the first person to disappear since the return of democracy in 1983.
Police search
They have reason to be pessimistic. Several witnesses in the trial were threatened, with recordings of torture victims being played down their telephones, and the three judges hearing the case were also threatened.
Mr Lopez may have gone into hiding
It could also be that Mr Lopez, a 77-year-old former labourer who suffers from Parkinson's disease, felt the pressure of the high-profile court case and simply wandered off.
A huge police search has been launched and a $70,000 reward offered for information on his whereabouts.
The first civilian governments after military rule passed laws which allowed the perpetrators of what became known as the "Dirty War" to walk free.
The Argentine Supreme Court last year ruled those laws to be unconstitutional and the trials began again, with Miguel Etchecolatz being the highest profile figure to be sentenced so far.
Justice in Argentina is again being seen to be done, but it is proving to be a painful process.