Meza, Ireneo Alberto Méndez Hernández, Armando Edelmiro Morales Morales, Aurelio Clodomiro Peñailillo Sepúlveda, Oscar Abdón Retamal Pérez, Luis Enrique Rivera Cofré, José Hernán Riveros Chávez, Roberto del Carmen Rivero Muñoz, Oscar Eladio Saldías Daza, Hugo Enrique Soto Campos, Víctor Julio Vivanco Vásquez, Rolando Antonio Ibarra Ortega (López), Aroldo Vivian Laurie Luengo, Luis Alcides Pereira Hernández, Armando Aroldo Pereira Meriño, Hernán Sarmiento Sabater, and Edelmerio Antonio Valdez Sepúlveda, and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. He was acquitted of the charge of aggravated kidnapping of José Luis Morales Ruiz. 52. That judgment was upheld at second instance by the Santiago Appellate Court on June 15, 2005, which increased the sentence imposed on Luis Albero Hidalgo to 10 years and one day of imprisonment and found him guilty of the kidnapping of Luis Evangelista Aguayo Fernández and Enrique Angel Carreño González; it lowered the sentence of Hugo Alfredo Cardemil Valenzuela to 15 years and one day of imprisonment. 53. They say that on December 27, 2007, the Supreme Court, examining a cassation appeal, vacated sua sponte the second-instant judgment and issued a substitute judgment, based on its finding that said judgment contained formal errors, and granted the convicted men the benefit of the partial statute of limitations. With that, the sentence of Hugo Alfredo Cardemil Valenzuela was reduced to five years' imprisonment and that of Pablo Rodney Caulier Grant, to four years' imprisonment; there was no pronouncement on Luis Alberto Hidalgo, on account that he was deceased. The Supreme Court apparently also decided to grant the two convicted men supervised release as a noncustodial measure. 54. As a specific submission in this case, the petitioners say that, faced with the crimes of aggravated abduction, which are continuing offenses, the Supreme Court lacked a specific date from which to calculate the period of limitations and, in turn, of partial limitations. Accordingly, it evidently opted to apply a criminal classification that at the time that the offenses were committed was established, according to Article 141 of the Criminal Code, by the fact that the confinement or detention lasted more than 90 days, in order to consider the crimes consummated from the 92nd day, so that the above mitigating circumstance would apply. They say that the judgment states that for the purpose of applying the mitigating circumstance, consummation occurred once the confinement or detention lasted more than 90 days, thus allowing the partial period of limitations to be calculated from that date; that is, the 92nd day, taking into account to that end that, even if it is prolonged over time or serious injury results to the person or interests of the confined or detained individual, the penalty provided for this type of aggravated offense is always the same: long-term imprisonment in any degree, without prejudice to the seriousness of the offense. 4. Case of Nelson Cristián Almendras Almendras, José Ricardo López López, Juan de la Cruz Briones Pérez, Victoriano Lagos Lagos and their families 55. On June 10, 2008, the IACHR received a complaint lodged on behalf of Nelson Cristián Almendras Almendras, José Ricardo López López, Juan de la Cruz Briones Pérez, Victoriano Lagos Lagos and their families. The petition says that the alleged victims were detained without a court order on September 17, 1979 in Canteras, Quilleco District, Bio Bio Province, by a Carabineros patrol from El Álamo police post. They say that the whereabouts of the alleged victims have remained unknown since the date of their detention. 56. The petitioners say that the families of Messrs. Almendras, Lagos and de la Cruz filed applications for relief (amparo) on September 3, 1974, July 8, 1978, and December 29, 1978, respectively, with the Concepción Appellate Court, which rejected all the applications. They say that on May 22, 1996, the Superior Council of the CNRR filed a criminal complaint with the Third Court of First Instance of Los Angeles, which declared itself as lacking jurisdiction on January 7, 1997, and referred the proceeding to the Third Military Court of Concepción, which, on May 28, 1998, dismissed the entire proceeding with prejudice, which decision was upheld by the Court-Martial on October 3, 2001. 57. They say that on October 31, 2001, the Supreme Court accepted the application for cassation alleging material errors, filed by the spouse of Nelson Almendras against the judgment of the Court-Martial and ordered the investigation to be reopened and the record to be referred to the Third Court of First Instance for 10