Criminal investigation

48 Argentinian military personnel are jailed for their involvement in 'death flights' - when prisoners were thrown out of planes - and other torture during junta rule 40 years ago

An Argentine court has jailed 48 former military personnel for involvement in murder and torture at a notorious detention center in the 1970s and 80s.

The 48 men were found guilty of torture, murder and carrying out 'death flights', which saw regime critics and opponents killed by being thrown out of airplanes into the Rio de la Plata or the sea.

The crimes took place at a Buenos Aires navy school used as a secret torture and detention center during the years of Argentina's military dictatorship.

Only a fraction of an estimated 5,000 opponents of the regime, which ruled from 1976-1983, survived being sent to the ESMA Naval Mechanics School.

Twenty-nine people were handed life sentences, 19 received sentences of between eight and 25 years, and six were acquitted on Wednesday.