Buenos Aires [Argentina], July 10: Around nine years after the sinking of the submarine ARA San Juan, which killed 44 people, a court in Argentina has sentenced the former head of the country's submarine fleet to a three-year suspended sentence. The federal criminal court in Río Gallegos found Claudio Javier Villamide guilty of dereliction of duty and negligently causing a serious disaster resulting in deaths, several Argentine media outlets reported on Wednesday. The court's full reasoning is expected on August 21.
Three other naval officers charged in the case were acquitted. Villamide had been accused of irregularities linked to the submarine's deployment and decisions taken before and during its ill-fated voyage. "I am innocent," the newspaper La Nacion quoted Villamide as saying before the verdict was announced. "Throughout the entire proceedings, no one was able to explain to me what I did wrong." The ARA San Juan disappeared on November 15, 2017, while travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina's far south to Mar del Plata. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune