Two soldiers were sentenced to 30 years in prison by Death of Captain Rafael Acosta ArEvalo, informed the lawyer Alonso Medina Roa.
«Tribunal 12 of Judgment, sentences to 30 years in prison the Lt. Ascanio Antonio Tarascio and Sgt. Estiben Zarate Soto, both attached to the DGCIM; for considering them responsible for the aggravated homicide and torture, against CC Rafael Acosta Arévalo”, he tweeted on the afternoon of this Friday, February 4.
Captain Acosta Arévalo died in State custody, shortly after his appearance in military courts where he attended his hearing, with obvious signs of torture.
His death occurred in the dungeons of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim) on June 29, 2019. The retired lieutenant commander was arrested and accused of treason against the fatherland, military rebellion at military instigation.
One day before his death, on June 28, 2019 at night, he was taken to the presentation hearing before the Third Military Control Court of Caracas, where he fainted. Seeing his condition, the judge ordered his immediate transfer to the Fort Tiuna military hospital.
tortured
The autopsy revealed that his death occurred due to Severe respiratory insufficiency, due to rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown) caused by a generalized polytrauma (Having been the subject of multiple traumatic injuries).
His family did not have access to Acosta Arévalo’s body and the authorities also carried out a controlled burial.
In a first trial of the accused, Ascanio Antonio Tarascio and Estiben Zárate Soto accused them of felony murder concausal, as the Public Ministry described the fact, and upon admitting the crime they reduced a third of the sentence. Judge Norelys León Saab, of the 36th Court of Control of the Metropolitan Area, sentenced them to 6 years and eight months in prison.
new trial
The Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) ordered a repeat trial in October 2021 and it was only then that the Attorney General of the Republic appointed by the 2017 Constituent Assembly, Tarek William Saab, spoke of torture against Acosta Arévalo, a complaint made by the Fact Finding Mission on Venezuela in its first report.
“On October 22, a new indictment hearing was held against the two officials implicated in the crimes of intentional homicide qualified executed with treachery and torture. On November 13 of last year, the corresponding indictment was filed,” Saab said four months ago.
During the reading of the sentence of the second trial, the lawyer Medina Roa asked the court to investigate the chain of command of the Dgcim, as well as the doctors who did not give him due attention in the military hospital.