Emilio Parodi, 82, was arrested by Airport Security Police (PSA) officers at his flat in Vicente López, Buenos Aires, on Tuesday in connection to a case about the kidnapping and disappearance of 23 workers during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

Parodi was the human resources manager of the Molinos Río de La Plata firm during that time. Plaintiffs and the prosecutor's office requested several company bosses and managers of the plant be indicted in 2019.

Parodi's arrest is the first of a civilian from the Bunge & Born Group to be tried for crimes against humanity. During a questioning by La Plata Federal Judge Ernesto Kreplak, Parodi denied any knowledge of worker disappearances or kidnappings inside or outside the Avellaneda plant and said that he regretted the events.

He remains under house arrest and in PSA custody. The case was initiated in 2013 by a complaint from the children of disappeared workers. The events occurred on July 7, 1976, when the military entered the Avellaneda plant and kidnapped workers.

Their names were on a list with Molinos Río de La Plata letterhead. They were fighting for better working conditions. Since the return of democracy to Argentina in 1983, 1,168 people – including 200 civilians – have been convicted in 322 trials investigating crimes against humanity.

In December 2018, two former managers of the Ford motor company were convicted for their role as "necessary participants" in the illegal detention of 24 workers with trade union ties at a plant between 1976 and 1977.

Estimates from human rights organisations suggest that some 30,000 people were disappeared during the 1976-1983 era of state terrorism. Parodi's trial is the latest in a series of cases to be brought before the Argentine justice system to investigate these terrible crimes.