Christian Von Wernich, a former police chaplain, went on trial for allegations of kidnapping, torture, and murder during Argentina's dirty war; an anti-insurgent campaign during 1976-1983 in which the Buenos Aries police force brutally countered leftists dissidents to the military dictatorship. Von Wernich, a Catholic priest, was accused of fostering the suppression campaign on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church. He is also accused of assisting in harsh interrogation procedures at secret detention facilities.
Witnesses in the case have been reluctant to cooperate with the trial after a key witness disappeared. The President of Argentina, Nestor Kirchner, had many of the dictatorships amnesty laws annulled, opening the way for investigations of rights violations from the former regime.