wo former Argentine dictators were handed heavy prison sentences Thursday for their involvement in the kidnapping of babies from leftist activists killed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.

Jorge Videla, 86, was sentenced to 50 years in prison and Reynaldo Bignone, 84, was given a 15-year jail term, presiding judge Maria Roqueta said as she read the ruling before a packed courtroom in Buenos Aires.

Hundreds of people -- relatives of the victims, children reunited with their families and activists -- cheered the ruling, which they watched on a giant TV screen set up outside the courthouse. Many were in tears.

Several other defendants were handed sentences ranging from 15 to 40 years for their roles in a "systematic plan" to kidnap the babies of activists, in a trial that launched in February 2011...