Five Argentina Rugby players sentenced to Life Imprisonment for the Baez Sosa Murder trial

Argentinian rugby players involved in the murder of immigrant youth Fernando Baez Sosa have been sentenced to harsh imprisonment terms by the country's court.

Five Argentina Rugby players sentenced to Life Imprisonment for the Baez Sosa Murder trial

Credits: Buenos Aires Herald

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On Monday, an Argentinian court decided their verdict against five amateur rugby players of the same team to be sentenced to life for the murder of Paraguayan immigrant Fernando Baez Sosa. The rugby players were convicted of beating the young man to death for a crime linked to racial prejudice and discrimination.

While there were eight defendants in this case, the three others players who were also under trial were sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment for being part of the crime. Fernando Baez Sosa’s trial lasted four weeks in a court in Dolores, 140 miles south of Buenos Aires. This whole issue sparked a new debate on racism and entitlement of the upper classes within the country.

The defendants, in this case, were all aged between 21 and 23 when this ‘double aggravated murder’ occurred on January 18, 2020. Sosa, 18 at that time, succumbed to the injuries sustained from the fight with the eight Argentinian amateur rugby players.

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All defendants in the trial for the Baez Sosa murder case have been sentenced to imprisonment

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Source: RFI

Amongst the eight perpetrators in this murder case, five have been sentenced to life imprisonment, while the other three will be serving 15 years in jail, as per an Argentinian court’s decision. This was one of the country’s most highly debated and contested issues, bringing in alleged tones of racism involved in this crime.

Fernando Baez Sosa was a Paraguayan immigrant who was brutally murdered during a quarrel with eight players from a local amateur rugby team. As reported by RFI, a fight broke out at the Villa Gessel sea resort on January 18, 2020. During this time, Baez Sosa became isolated from his friend group and was surrounded by the eight perpetrators involved in his death.

He was brutally beaten up by the rugby players and died a gruesome death from the injuries sustained. As per some witnesses, the players were noticed calling Baez Sosa “a s**tty black.” Baez Sosa comes from a Paraguayan immigrant family who are bricklayers and caregivers in Argentina.

Argentina has often faced extreme racism-related cases, with most of the population descending from Italian, Spanish, or German ancestry. The country’s people often use the word ‘black’ to refer to the indigenous people and those from neighboring countries who are mostly seen as inferior beings.

The players handed life imprisonment from this trial are Maximo Thomsen, Matias Benicelli, Enzo Comelli, and two brothers, Ciro, and Luciano Pertossi. Furthermore, the Pertossi brothers’ cousin Lucas alongside Ayrton Viollaz and Blaz Cinalli, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Throughout the trial and detention, the perpetrators have shown extreme guilt and remorse about Baez Sosa’s passing. The defendants even denied of ever hitting or being involved in Sosa’s murder. Such incidents show the prejudice and injustices that minority groups face on account of racial profiling and discrimination.

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