Buenos Aires - The European Court of Human Rights has agreed to consider a case for compensation from Britain and for a war crimes trial of the former prime minister, Baroness Thatcher, for sinking the cruiser General Belgrano in 1982, an Argentine lawyer said yesterday.
The court in Strasbourg now has six months to reach a verdict on the demand brought by relatives of all 323 Argentine sailors who died when the Royal Navy nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror torpedoed the Belgrano during the Falklands War, lawyer Mr Javier Olivera said.
The court rejected arguments from lawyers for Britain's Ministry of Defence that the demand should first be presented in a British court and only referred to Strasbourg on appeal, Mr Olivera said in Buenos Aires.
"The court has resolved that the demand is valid and that the victims of the cruiser Belgrano and their relatives have an argument for compensation and for the extradition [to a court in France] of Margaret Thatcher," said Mr Olivera, from the firm representing the victims.
