Julio César Strassera

Julio César Strassera (September 18, 1933 – February 27, 2015) was an Argentine lawyer and jurist. He served as Chief Prosecutor during the Trial of the Juntas in 1985.

Life and times

Early life Strassera was born in Comodoro Rivadavia in 1933. He attended the prestigious Colegio San José college preparatory school, left two years shy of graduation, and returned to complete his secondary studies. He would later enroll at the University of Buenos Aires and earn a juris doctor in 1963. He was named Secretary of a Buenos Aires Federal Court shortly after the March 1976 coup, and was later appointed as a Federal Prosecutor.

Role during the Dirty War His tenure as Federal Prosecutor coincided with the height of the Dirty War, and a large number of Habeas Corpus inquiries were solicited at his office during this period, many from friends and family of political prisoners. Strassera, however, refused to file most of these. Some of the most notable cases thereof included that of former Santa Cruz Governor Jorge Cepernic, who had been arrested following the coup, and whose property had been seized without due process and of Lidia Papaleo, whose majority ownership of newsprint manufacturer Papel Prensa was allegedly seized from her under duress following the death of her husband, financier David Graiver. Strassera was charged with investigating possible links between the late banker and the Montoneros guerrilla organization, and asked for a sentence of five years' imprisonment for the widow. His motion and appeal to this effect were both denied, however.

Another controversial motion filed by Strassera as prosecutor pertained to the July 4, 1976, San Patricio Church massacre - charges he succeeded in having the presiding judge drop. Strassera was named criminal court Judge in 1981, an appointment he considered a demotion since he would be relegated to "sentencing chicken thieves." During the trial itself, 29 bomb threats were received in Buenos Aires schools, and a number were detonated in key government installations.

Hearings officially began on April 22, 1985, upon which Strassera presented 709 cases to the presiding tribunal. Ultimately, 280 cases were heard and 833 witnesses testified, including former President, General Alejandro Lanusse and writer Jorge Luis Borges.

The last day of testimony took place on August 14, 1985. Strassera presented charges against the nine defendants — including three former Presidents — on September 11. He argued that sentences for each defendant be dictated by the proven role of each military junta in the cases heard by the court. The tribunal, however, ruled that sentencing should be determined by the role of each branch of the Argentine Armed Forces in each case, thereby lessening sentences for the Air Force commanders on trial. Chief Prosecutor Julio César Strassera (left) reads closing arguments in the historic Trial of the Juntas.

Strassera presented closing arguments on September 18, saying:

I wish to waive any claim to originality in closing this motion. I wish to use a phrase that is not my own, because it already belongs to all the Argentine people. Your Honors: Never again!

Strassera subsequently represented Argentina at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and related international organizations. Following Menem's pardons, he resigned his government posts, and joined the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights, one of the leading non-governmental human rights organizations in Argentina. He later became a vocal opponent of Kirchnerism despite the numerous changes enacted by President Néstor Kirchner that allowed trials of hitherto immune Dirty War perpetrators to proceed. He opposed the extradition request against former President Isabel Perón (whose authorization of Operativo Independencia in 1975 arguably began the Dirty War), and insinuated that the Kirchners promoted trials against indicted officers for political expediency.

Amid a series of controversies between Clarín and Kirchnerism, an exchange of accusations followed Strassera's defense of the Clarín Media Group's claim that Papel Prensa had been acquired lawfully from the Graivers. Cabinet Chief Aníbal Fernández pointed to Strassera's sanctions against lawyers who presented Habeas Corpus petitions during the 1976 — 83 dictatorship as proof that his role in the subsequent Trial of the Juntas was merely pretense,