Pinochet generals convicted of killing

A Chilean judge sentenced four generals to jail yesterday for their part in the murder of the trade unionist Tucapel Jimenez in 1982, during the rule of Augusto Pinochet. However, three of the sentences were suspended.

The verdict, involving all 12 army officers, was the first in a Chilean court to implicate senior army officers directly in Pinochet-era crimes.

Jimenez was shot repeatedly in the head, a few days after calling for protests.

Outside the court relatives and friends marching in the rain complained that several of the officers were sentenced to only one to three years.

"The sentences were very light; there should have been exemplary sentences so that this type of crime never happens again," Jimenez's son, also Tucapel Jimenez, said.

He also voiced his regret that General Pinochet was not named as a prime conspirator.

"The majority of the country, and my family, believes that Augusto Pinochet gave the order to assassinate my father."

Jimenez was killed in a succesful campaign to destroy a growing civilian coalition opposed to the regime's economic and political decrees.

He had a huge following among the government employees whose union he led.

Because he also had friends and allies in the navy high command, he was regarded by the army high command as a dangerous force.