Three former soldiers convicted of Dutch journalists' murder in El Salvador in 1982

In El Salvador, three suspects have been found guilty of murdering four Dutch journalists that were working for IKON in 1982. All three were handed a prison sentence of 15 years, several Salvadorian media outlets reported, including the newspaper Diario El Salvador.

After a hearing that took longer than 11 hours, the jury ruled that all the suspects were involved in the death of the journalists. The suspects are the former Minister of Defense, Guillermo Garcia (91), former director of a special police service, Francisco Antonio Moran (93), and former colonel Mario Reyes Mena (85).

Koos Koster, Jan Kuiper, Hans ter Laag, and Joop Willemsen, four journalists who worked for the now defunct broadcaster IKON, were reporting on the civil war in the country in 1982. They walked into an ambush at Chalatenango and were killed. A now-repealed amnesty law prevented the prosecution of the perpetrators for years.

The Dutch ambassador for Central America, Arjen van den Berg, was present during the sentencing and told the Salvadorian newspaper La Prensa Grafica that he was happy with the verdict. “We have always maintained confidence in the Salvadoran judiciary. The fight against impunity has taken a long time, but it has been won." None of the victim's family members were present in the courtroom.

Sonja ter Laag (70), the sister of Hans ter Laag, responded to the verdict. “I am very happy that the people who murdered my brother have been convicted. And that they will go to their graves as murderers. We can finally close this after 43 years.”

She added that the victim’s relatives have been living in a state of hope and desperation for the convictions for 43 years. “That costs a lot of energy, you don’t want to know. And now it is over. The people who gave the order to murder my brother, an innocent 25-year-old boy, will be punished.” Ter Laag did not mind that the elderly men would not have long to live anymore. “In any case, they will not go to their grave decorated."

The judges imposed a lower sentence than the maximum set by the law. Instead of a prison sentence of 30 years, they imposed 15 years because of the defendants' age and poor health.

García and Morán are being treated in a private hospital. El Salvador has requested the extradition of Reyes Mena. He currently lives in the U.S.

There was a lot of certainty about whether the court hearing would take place on Tuesday after it started two hours later than planned. Initially, the hearing was scheduled for April 23, but it was postponed.