10 former Chilean officers charged in Victor Jara killing

A judge is charging 10 former military officers in the killing of folk singer and political activist Victor Jara during Chile's 1973 coup.

The charges announced late Wednesday by Judge Miguel Vazquez include homicide and kidnapping in the slaying of Jara and former military police head Littre Quiroga Carvajal.

Jara was dragged down to the basement of an indoor stadium that had been converted into a detention and torture center after the Sept. 11, 1973 coup.

He was a member of the Communist Party, and many people believe he could have served as a powerful voice against the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

But he was tortured in Santiago's Estadio Chile before he was shot more than 40 times as a warning to those who challenged Pinochet's authority.