Two men will stand trial for the
October murder of a prominent transgender rights advocate in
Argentina.
According to the Telam news agency, an
appeals court has upheld a lower court's ruling which said that
Gabriel David Marino and Felix Alberto Ruiz Diaz can be tried for
aggravated homicide in connection with the murder of Diana Sacayan.
Sacayan, 40, was found dead in her
Buenos Aires apartment. She was the third transgender woman found
murdered in the month of October.
According to Amnesty International,
Sacayan's body showed signs of violence.
Mariela Belski, executive director of
Amnesty International, said of the killings: “A dark cloud has set
over Argentina's trans community.”
Telam
reported that Sacayan, a prominent civil rights advocate, met
Marino while undergoing treatment for drug addiction. Authorities
found traces of Marino's biological material in a condom left in
Sacayan's apartment bathroom.
In 2012, then-President Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner personally handed Sacayan her national identity
card recognizing her as a woman.