Argentina: Mercedes-Benz and Tasselkraut finally face murder charges in the case of the “disappeared” trade unionists

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“On Monday, the appeal court in San Martín, a suburb of Buenos Aires, indicted former production manager Juan Ronaldo Tasselkraut - 45 years after the crime and decades of efforts by the international human rights movement. (…) It was only in April of this year, 45 years after the murders, that provincial judge Alicia Vence, after dumping the extensive files in San Martín for over 10 years, acquitted Tasselkraut and thereby ignored all witness statements. The former head of production was represented by one of the former judges who had convicted the junta members at the time and has since worked as a lawyer. Not only the victims, but also the public prosecutor's office and the human rights office lodged objections. With success, as the verdict was overturned by three appeals judges on Monday and Tasselkraut was charged. According to the verdict, he actively participated in the deprivation of liberty of Héctor Ratto and the disappearance of the worker Diego Núñez…”Article by Gaby Weber from October 13, 2022 in overton-magazin.de (“Mercedes-Benz finally under murder charges”) – see the backstory and now the progression below:

• On October 22nd, Tasselkraut, former head of production at Mercedes-Benz Argentina (MBA), will finally stand trial in Argentina
  Conversation by Gaby Weber on September 24, 2026 at the Forum Trade Union Left Berlin ("50 years after Daimler's crimes: Mercedes Benz Argentina murders now in court") with the victim's lawyer and co-plaintiff Pablo Llonto in the lawsuit brought by the worker Héctor Ratto, who was arrested at Mercedes-Benz Argentina (MBA) in 1977, against Juan Ronaldo Tasselkraut, who is accused of active participation in the murder of 14 MBA union activists.
  “On October 22nd, the former production manager of the German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz Argentina (MBA) will stand trial in a suburb of Buenos Aires: Juan Ronaldo Tasselkraut, born in 1941. He is accused of active participation in the murder of 14 union activists, specifically the arrest of the worker Héctor Ratto in August 1977 in the middle of the company and the passing on of the private address of the unionist Diego Núñez to the Military officers abducted, tortured and then murdered Núñez that same night. His body was never found. Human rights organizations estimate that up to 30,000 people “disappeared” during the dictatorship.
  I researched the case for WDR in 1999 and made it known to the world. In Germany, the Republican Bar Association filed a complaint against Tasselkraut for aiding and abetting murder. After several years, the Nuremberg public prosecutor's office discontinued the proceedings because, in their eyes, it had not been proven that the disappeared were really dead and would not reappear at some point. (…)
  Pablo Llonto: It doesn't really matter who was in government. The judiciary has simply refused to give these procedures priority. The only time the judiciary understood that it could not be put off was in 1985, when the junta commanders were brought to trial. At that time, hearings were held every day and between April and August 833 witnesses were heard and the verdict was handed down in December. At that time there was the declared will of the judges; Today, however, human rights cases are heard at best every 14 days. You can calculate this: if we only want to interview 20 witnesses every two weeks, then it will take us five months. This is painful and the Supreme Court is responsible for it. It doesn't matter whether Javier Milei, Mauricio Macri or Cristina Kirchner are in power. We have always asked for acceleration, but in vain. The judges refuse to give these proceedings a priority as they currently do, for example, with the corruption proceedings. When it comes to human rights, they don't do it. (…)
  There are only two specific allegations: involvement in the illegal arrest and torture of Héctor Ratto and the disappearance of his colleague Diego Núñez. (…)
  My client is very angry and hurt. He knows that and why his colleagues were murdered back then. He will also say that in the trial. The daughters of the Núñez family are younger than Ratto and are active in the group “Hijos” (Children of the Disappeared). But they are all satisfied with what has been achieved. We will continue, even after 50 years. Ratto knows that he and the victims' families have received a lot of solidarity from around the world. And that was important. (…) In Argentina we have the case of the Molinos Group, which was also accused of serious human rights violations. There are new owners there and they have come forward in the proceedings and cooperated with the prosecution and provided documents. This is an exception. Ford and Mercedes-Benz have never done this.”
• Miracles do exist: the murders of the Argentine Mercedes unions are being heard by Argentina's Supreme Court
  “Last Wednesday, Argentina's Supreme Court issued itsDecision announced: The trial against former Mercedes manager Juan Ronaldo Tasselkraut is opened - almost 50 years after the murders of the 14 company activists. “Better late than not at all,” said former works council member Eduardo Fachal, who survived the massacre. (…)There was a miracle with the supreme court's decision to open the proceedings. Both the German judiciary and the US Supreme Court rejected this and considered economic interests more important than human rights.The judges complained that the statement of a victim - in this case the prisoner Ratto, who was demonstrably tortured - should not be equated with the statement of an accused; it is not one statement against the other. “The principle of statement against statement means impunity,” the plaintiff’s representative, lawyer Fernando Almejud from the Human Rights Secretariat, argued in court. "The repression took place in secret, without judicial intervention. It was illegal. Therefore, the victim's testimony must be valued more highly than that of the perpetrator." The court agreed with this view.
  Now there will be a public criminal trial against Tasselkraut. It is more than questionable whether the defendant will ever spend a day in prison. He is now in his 70s and will seek house arrest if convicted. He has German citizenship and Daimler AG certainly won't let him go. There are presidential elections in October, and the primaries were won by the ultra-right Javier Milei, whose right-hand man is an avowed admirer of the military dictatorship and has repeatedly spoken out against the legal processing of these crimes. Nevertheless: With this decision, the traditional German company will at least symbolically be in the dock; To this day it has not apologized for its involvement in the crime at the time.”Article by Gaby Weber from August 27, 2023 in overton-magazin.de – we congratulate!
• Murders of Mercedes trade unionists before the Supreme Court of Argentina
  “After the US Supreme Court refused to allow the case to be heard due to economic interests, it went before the Corte Suprema in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. (…) 21 years ago, the survivors of the 14 murdered MBA trade unionists filed a criminal complaint in the same building. Since then, Argentine lawyers have been thinking about whether to open the proceedings, that is, whether to put Tasselkraut before a court. On Wednesday it was not about the material facts themselves, but only about legal questions, namely whether the statement of a victim - in this case a demonstrably tortured prisoner - should be equated with the statement of an accused, i.e. whether it is a statement against a statement. “The principle of statement against statement means impunity,” said the representative of the plaintiffs, lawyer Fernando Almejud from the Human Rights Secretariat. "The repression took place in secret, without judicial intervention. It was illegal. Therefore, the victim's testimony must be valued more highly than that of the perpetrator." (…)
  In October 2002, the survivors filed a criminal complaint in Buenos Aires against DaimlerChrysler and its accomplices in the union and military. Four years later, the public prosecutor's office took action against Daimler and Co because the company was guilty ("culpable sin causa"), but the specific perpetrators could not be identified. The case was transferred to the provincial court in San Martín, where it lay dormant for 15 years. In the end, judge Alicia Vence closed the investigation because Ratto's testimony conflicted with Tasselkraut's testimony and in her eyes there was a lack of evidence. But late last year the appeals court overturned the ruling. The manager appealed to the Supreme Court to avoid a trial. That's what Wednesday was about. (…)
  The Argentine Corte Suprema will announce its decision in the next few weeks. There's no rush, it's only been 46 years since the murders happened. It is questionable whether Tasselkraut will ever sit in the dock. He has dual citizenship and Berlin does not extradite Germans. The German judiciary has already stopped its investigations against him in this matter. And Untertürkheim is sure to provide his energetic production manager with a cozy place. Daimler has not yet apologized.”Article by Gaby Weber from April 29, 2023 in overton-magazin.de

Basic information about the case

• “There are no miracles” – The film about the disappeared from Mercedes-Benz Argentina
• Reports on the case since 2012 are also available hereIndustries > Auto: Daimler > Argentina
• The extensive multilingual documentation in the LabourNet archive:The “disappeared” trade unionists from Mercedes Benz

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