A court in Argentina on Monday sentenced five amateur rugby players from the same team to life in prison for beating a teenager to death over racist behavior.
Three other defendants were sentenced to 15 years in prison for “secondary participation” in the murder of Fernando Baez Sosa, a law student from a family of Paraguayan immigrants, outside a discotheque three years ago.
The four-week high-profile trial at the court in Dolores, 220 kilometers (140 miles) south of Buenos Aires, has put a spotlight on classism and racism in the country and has even sparked protests in several cities.
Eight defendants, now aged between 21 and 23, are charged with “double murder” after beating 18-year-old Baez to death at the popular beachside resort of Villa Gesell on January 18, 2020.
After the fight in the nightclub, the people involved were evicted but the fight continued in the street.
Baez became isolated from his teammates and was surrounded by eight attackers, all teammates at a small provincial rugby club, who beat him so severely that he succumbed to his injuries.
According to witnesses, the attackers called Baez – whose parents, bricklayers and nanny, are Paraguayan immigrants – “black black”.
‘Justice means life’
In countries where the majority of the population comes from white Europeans, mostly from Spain, Italy or Germany, the term “black” is used disparagingly by some to describe Indigenous people or migrants from neighboring countries.
“We are strong,” said Baez’s mother Graciela Sosa as she arrived in court with her husband Silvino Baez. “Justice means life.”
Rugby is a minority sport in Argentina, traditionally played and watched by the wealthy elite.
The trial of eight people accused of premeditated murder opened in Dolores last month.
Maximo Thomsen, Matias Benicelli, Enzo Comelli and brothers Ciro and Luciano Pertossi were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ayrton Viollaz, Blas Cinalli, and Lucas Pertossi, his brothers, were sentenced to 15 years.
Thomsen, whom prosecutors accused of being the leader of the group, fainted when the verdict was read.
The Baez family’s attorney, Fernando Burlando, said they would appeal the 15-year sentence and asked for life in prison for all involved.
“The most important thing is that the facts have been proven,” Burlando said.
Prosecutors had sought a maximum sentence of life in prison, arguing that the killings were premeditated.
Defense lawyers insisted that premeditation had not been proven, and asked the court to impose a lighter sentence for the lesser crime.
The defendants, in pre-trial custody since 2020, expressed remorse during the hearing and insisted they did not intend to kill Baez. Some even denied ever hitting him.