The last president of Argentina’s dirty war was given another prison sentence on Tuesday for the kidnapping and torture of 32 militant factory workers.

A Buenos Aires court gave Reynaldo Bignone 23 years for human rights violations.

The 86-year-old, president in 1982-83, is already serving several life sentences for more than two dozen cases involving crimes against humanity.

According to prosecution lawyer Ciro Annicchiarico the 32 men — among more than 30,000 disappeared or killed by Argentina’s fascist government — were persecuted for their “militancy in the union.”

Many of the victims worked at shipyards or in ceramics factories north of Buenos Aires.

Mr Annicchiarico said the firms they worked for had helped the state pick out which activists to target, while the state’s aim was to crush union demands in order to benefit the private sector.