**The remains of popular Chilean singer Victor Jara will be reburied in Santiago - 36 years after he was killed in the aftermath of a military coup.**Thousands of well-wishers, including President Michelle Bachelet, have been paying their last respects during a three-day wake in the capital.
Mr Jara was one of the most prominent victims of the 1973 coup that brought Gen Augusto Pinochet to power.
Mr Jara’s body was exhumed in June to clarify the circumstances of his death.
A court then established that he had been tortured and shot more than 30 times.
‘Advancing in justice’
Mr Jara’s remains will be reburied in Santiago’s general cemetery later on Saturday.
“Remembering him is what keeps him alive and will continue to maintain him alive forever”
Wilda Garate, Victor Jara’s fan
“I believe that finally, after 36 years, Victor can rest in peace,” Mrs Bachelet was quoted as saying by the Associated Press on Friday.
She added that many other victims of the military regime deserved similar resolutions.
“That’s why it’s important that we keep advancing in truth and justice so that Chile can rest in peace,” the president said.
Victor Jara was admired as a theatre director as well as for his folk songs and was a member of the Chilean Communist Party.
His widow Joan Turner, an English-born dancer, stood by her husband’s coffin and greeted guests during the three-day wake.
Wilda Garate, a fan of Mr Jara, said the wake was a much-deserved tribute.
“This reaffirms the people’s sentiment towards him,” she said
“Remembering him is what keeps him alive and will continue to maintain him alive forever.”
New evidence
Victor Jara was among thousands of people rounded up in the early days of Gen Pinochet’s right-wing military coup, which ousted the elected leftist President Salvador Allende.
He was taken to the Chile Stadium in Santiago where he was tortured and killed. His broken body was found a few days later.
Authorities reopened the investigation into his death last year, after new evidence was presented by his family.
Earlier this year a former army conscript, Jose Adolfo Paredes Marquez, was charged over the killing. He denies responsibility for Mr Jara’s death.
The officer or officers who ordered his killing have never been formally identified.
More than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared duringmilitary rule in Chile from 1973 to 1990.