Axel Blumberg
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Axel Blumberg (March 2 1981–March 2004) was an Argentine engineering student at the Technological Institute of Buenos Aires, who died at the age of 23, after being kidnapped for several days in March 2004. He was returning from his girlfriend's home when he was intercepted by his kidnappers.
Allegedly the local police was involved in the kidnapping or at least in the protection of the kidnappers. Neighbors of the kidnappers had called the police when they saw Blumberg escaping then being beaten by his captors and the police turned a blind eye.
Argentina was at the time in the midst of a wave of kidnappings, many of them ending in murder or in the disappearance of the victims, and often remaining unsolved after badly conducted investigation. A large portion of Argentine society viewed (and still does) the police forces as corrupt and inefficient, political leaders as unsupportive, and penal laws excessively lenient; in this context, Blumberg's murder caused an uproar and was the catalyzer for massive demonstrations, protesting this perceived impunity and supporting Axel's father, textile engineer Juan Carlos Blumberg, in his search for justice.
External links
- Gotkine, Elliott. ["Could a kidnapping change Argentina?"], BBC News. (July 22, 2004)
- () [Official website of the "Crusade for Axel" organization].
- () () [Axel's Shrine] at the Goethe Institute.
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