Argentina: Prosecutors seek prison for ex-Navy officers in ARA San Juan case

Argentine prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of up to five years for four former senior Navy officers implicated in the 2017 sinking of the ARA San Juan submarine, which resulted in the deaths of all 44 crew members.

The requested sentences include five years for Rear Admiral (ret.) Luis Enrique López Mazzeo and Captain (dismissed) Claudio Javier Villamide, four years for Captain (ret.) Héctor Aníbal Alonso, and three and a half years for Frigate Captain (ret.) Hugo Miguel Correa. The prosecutors also requested perpetual special disqualification from public office.

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the submarine ARA San Juan sailed to fulfill the operations order in technically deficient conditions of which the four defendants were aware that the programmed corrective maintenance cycles and established in the regulations had not been complied with, nor had the technical inspection reports and requests they received been attended to.

The charges are dereliction of duty and culpable homicide, aggravated by the loss of the 44 lives. The prosecution team asserted that the submarine departed the Mar del Plata Naval Base with known technical and operational deficiencies, which the four accused officers were aware of. They highlighted that scheduled maintenance cycles were not completed and technical inspection reports were not addressed.

During the trial, which began in March 2026, evidence presented detailed the submarine's history, including a mid-life refit from 2007 to 2015, after which various technical defects were documented by successive commanders. The prosecution argued that the sinking on November 15, 2017, was not an unforeseeable event but one that could have been prevented by the officers, who held positions of responsibility for the vessel's safety and readiness.

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what happened with the submarine on November 15 was not an instantaneous, fortuitous, unforeseeable event, but one that could have been avoided by the four defendants, who had a special situation of guarantee by virtue of their positions with specific functions of security, readiness, training, and support of naval power assets.