A Brazilian judge has blocked attempts by prosecutors to try former army colonel Sebastiao de Moura for human rights abuses committed in the 1970s.
The judge ruled the move would go against Brazil’s amnesty laws.
Judge Matos, the federal judge in Maraba in the northern state of Para, said in his ruling:
"To try after more than three decades to dodge the amnesty law and reopen the debate on crimes committed during the military dictatorship is a mistake."
The amnesty laws were passed in 1979, during the military dictatorship which ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985.
Under the law, any officials involved in politically motivated crimes committed during military rule were granted immunity from prosecution.
Col de Moura was in charge of troops who were fighting the leftist Araguaia rebels.
Prosecutors argued that there was enough evidence to link Col de Moura to the kidnap and suspected torture of five members of the movement, whose whereabouts are still unknown.
A spokesperson for the prosecutors said they were discussing the next step, with the possibility of an appeal against the ruling.
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