Argentine prosecutor who accused Kirchner found dead

Agence France-Presse

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Argentine prosecutor who accused Kirchner found dead
The 51-year-old government lawyer Alberto Nisman was expected to be damning testimony against Argentine President Cristina Kirchner

“All signs point to suicide,” said Argentine Security Secretary Sergio Berni following the death of Alberto Nisman, 51, whose body was found overnight in his apartment in the trendy Puerto Madero neighborhood of the capital.

Nisman, who accused President Cristina Kirchner of obstructing a probe into a 1994 Jewish center bombing, was found dead of a gunshot wound just hours before he was due to testify at a congressional hearing.

Officials said a .22-caliber handgun was found beside his body, which was discovered by his mother in the bathroom of his 13th floor apartment after his security detail was unable to contact him.

Nisman since 2004 had been investigating the 1994 van bombing of the building of the Argentine Jewish Charities Federation or AMIA. 

The bombing left 85 people dead and 300 others injured in the worst attack of its kind in the South American country.

Nisman had last week asked for an investigation into possible obstruction by Kirchner and was due to speak at a congressional hearing Monday to provide evidence of his assertions.

He was also expected to lodge accusations against her foreign minister Hector Timerman.

Anibal Fernandez, secretary general for the presidency, said he was “dumbfounded” by Nisman’s death, saying there was “absolutely nothing normal” about it.

The prosecutor has accused Iran of being behind the attack and said Kirchner hampered the inquiry to curry favor with the Islamic republic and gain access to its oil.

The government has categorically denied the accusations.

Nisman had also accused former president Carlos Menem (1989-99) of helping obstruct an investigation into the bombing, which has never been solved.

Since 2006, Argentine courts have demanded the extradition of 8 Iranians, including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former defense minister Ahmad Vahidi and Mohsen Rabbani, Iran’s former cultural attache in Buenos Aires.

Argentina charges that Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite movement, carried out the attack under orders from Iran, which Tehran denies.

‘Received threats’ 

Nisman had said he had phone recordings that show the Kirchner government and Argentine authorities had bowed to Iranian demands after the Islamic republic dangled lucrative commercial contracts. 

Nisman was supposed to present proof of his allegations that Kirchner and Timerman had a “plan of impunity” to “protect the Iranian fugitives.”

In addition to his complaint, Nisman had ordered the freezing of assets worth some $23 million of Kirchner, Timerman and other officials.

Jewish community members had cautiously welcomed Nisman’s complaint, but also requested he make public evidence to back up his assertions.

Opposition lawmaker Patricia Bullrich said she was shocked by Nisman’s death, calling it “a grave affront to the country’s institutions.”

Bullrich said she’d spoken to Nisman on the phone on Saturday, January 17, on 3 occasions and he said that he had received several threats.

Elisa Carrio, leader of the Civic Coalition, an opposition party, bluntly called Nisman’s death “an assassination,” saying she did not accept that it was a suicide.

In 2013, Argentina’s Congress approved, at the request of the executive branch, an agreement with Tehran to form a truth commission to investigate the bombing, consisting of 5 members from neither Argentina nor Iran.

It also authorized an Argentine judge to travel to Iran to question the former officials accused of involvement.

The Jewish center bombing came two years after an attack against the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people.

In January 2014, Argentina accused Israel of concealing information about the attacks after a former Israeli ambassador to Argentina suggested that those responsible had been killed by Israeli security forces.

Argentina’s Jewish population of about 300,000 people is the largest in Latin America. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!