Argentine ex-army chief acquitted of kidnapping, torture

BUENOS AIRES: Former Argentine army chief Cesar Milani was acquitted on Friday of the kidnapping and torture of a man and his son in 1977 during the South American country's last military dictatorship.

The court in the northeastern city of La Rioja, which also judged another 10 defendants, ordered his immediate release, according to the sentence read out at the end of the trial.

Milani was army chief from 2013-15 under center-left then-president Cristina Kirchner, who has been implicated in a dozen corruption investigations, the first of which went to trial in May.

The former army chief was a second lieutenant in the Battalion 141 in La Rioja in 1977, when he was accused of taking part in the kidnapping and torture of Pedro Olivera and his son Ramon.