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alberto nisman
The controversial case against Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has been again dismissed by an appeals court.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was accused of shielding Iran from prosecution over the 1994 bomb attack against a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires.
Two out of three judges voted to reject an appeal by prosecutors, saying that no crime had been committed.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has always denied the allegations.
The original decision to throw out the case against Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was made by Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas in late February.
He made his conclusions after examining a 350-page report that had been prepared by special prosecutor Alberto Nisman before his unexplained death in January.
On March 26, the justice ministry said in a statement: “The federal appeals chamber ratifies the decision by Judge Daniel Rafecas to reject prosecutor Nisman’s accusation.”
The court of appeals agreed with Judge Daniel Rafecas’ conclusion that there was no evidence pointing to President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
The sudden death of Alberto Nisman and the case against Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has dominated Argentine headlines for much of this year.
The prosecutor was found dead in his apartment on January 18 with a bullet wound to the head and a pistol lying by his side.
Alberto Nisman had been only hours away from testifying in Congress against Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman.
The circumstances of the prosecutor’s death are still unclear.
Earlier in March, Alberto Nisman’s family claimed independent tests showed that he was murdered.
The government has rejected any role in his death.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said Alberto Nisman had been fed misleading information by a rogue intelligence agent who was trying to discredit her government.
Eighty-five people died in the car bomb attack on July 18, 1994 which completely destroyed the seven-storey Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (Amia) cultural centre in Buenos Aires.
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A controversial case against Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman has been dismissed by a federal judge on February 26.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Hector Timerman had been accused of covering up alleged Iranian involvement in a bomb attack against Amia Jewish centre in 1994.
Judge Daniel Rafecas said that there was no merit to the accusation as no crime had occurred.
The accusation came from prosecutor Alberto Nisman who was found dead last month in his flat.
Judge Daniel Rafecas said he would discontinue the case.
“The evidence gathered far from meets the minimal standard,” said a statement from Argentina’s judiciary system.
Photo Wikipedia
Alberto Nisman was due to testify in Congress against Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner when his body was found.
The circumstances of his death have not been clarified.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said Alberto Nisman been fed misleading information by a rogue intelligence agent in order to discredit her government.
The president and the foreign minister had been accused of acting to hide their involvement in the Amia Jewish centre bombing – Argentina’s worst terrorist attack, in which 85 people died.
The lower house of the Argentine Congress has meanwhile approved a bill tabled by Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner scrapping the country’s secret agency, the Intelligence Secretariat.
The proposal was first announced days after Alberto Nisman’s death, on January 18.
A new federal investigative agency, which will be accountable to Congress, will replace it.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said the change was overdue because the agency had remained largely untouched since the end of military rule in 1983.
The opposition accused the government of coming up with the proposal as a smoke screen for its involvement in the Amia bombing scandal.
Argentina’s Congress has voted to dissolve the country’s intelligence agency.
The Intelligence Secretariat will be replaced with a new federal agency that will be accountable to Congress.
The proposal was drafted last month by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, following the death of special prosecutor Alberto Nisman.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner accused a rogue agent of feeding misleading information to Alberto Nisman, who was investigating the government.
The lower house of Congress voted 131 to 71 in favor of the bill. It had already been passed by the Senate.
During a six-hour debate, opposition lawmakers repeatedly expressed their discontent with the fact that, under the new law, oversight of all wiretaps will be moved from the intelligence services to the general attorney’s office.
They said they felt uneasy about the close ties between the government and the current general attorney.
They also said they were worried about the role army chief Cesar Milani would play in intelligence gathering under the new law.
The new agency is expected to be set up within 90 days of the bill being signed into law by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had argued a reform of Argentina’s intelligence services was overdue.
She said that the agency had kept much of the same structure it had during the military government, which ended in 1983, and needed to become more accountable.
“We need to make the intelligence services more transparent because they have not served the interests of the country,” the president said in a televised speech in January.
Kicking off the debate in the lower chamber on February 25, governing party lawmaker Diana Conti described the vote as “a fight for the democratization of the country’s intelligence services”.
She said it was time to put an end “to the perverse links between the intelligence services, the judiciary and some political sectors”.
One of the main criticisms of the SI had been a lack of control of its funding.
The new law creates “control mechanisms” to oversee the new agency’s finances, although critics said details of how these mechanisms would work were lacking.
Opposition congressman Manuel Garrido also warned that there were no safeguards to prevent the new agency from committing serious irregularities.
Manuel Garrido also said the law was a smokescreen to divert attention from the death under mysterious circumstances of federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman.
Alberto Nisman, who was 51, was found dead in his flat on January 18 with a gunshot wound to his head hours before he was due to testify to a congressional committee.
He had been investigating the bombing of the Amia Jewish centre in the capital, Buenos Aires, in 1994 which left 85 people dead.
Alberto Nisman had accused President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran’s alleged role in the bombing.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner rejected the allegations and said a former secret agent had misled the prosecutor in order to discredit her government.
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Hundreds of thousands of Argentines have rallied in Buenos Aires to mark one month since the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman.
The protest was called by federal prosecutors and attended by Alberto Nisman’s family and opposition politicians.
They defied torrential rain to demand justice for Alberto Nisman, who had been investigating the government.
Prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead in his apartment on 18 January.
It is still not clear whether he killed himself or was murdered.
Alberto Nisman was investigating Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, the 1994 bombing of the Amia Jewish centre.
The silent march was called by prosecutors demanding a full investigation.
Alberto Nisman’s ex-wife, federal judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, and their two daughters joined the demonstration, which lasted nearly two hours.
Similar protests took place across the country.
Argentines living in Spain, France, Israel and other countries also gathered to demand justice for Alberto Nisman.
Officials have denounced the march as a political move to weaken the government.
Alberto Nisman was found with a bullet wound to the head and a gun was lying next to him.
Days earlier, he had published a 300-page report in which he accused President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman of covering up Iran’s alleged role in the bombing.
His body was found just hours before he was due to appear before a congressional committee to present more details of his allegations.
News of Alberto Nisman’s death and its timing led to speculation among some Argentines that the government may have played a role in it.
The government has strongly denied both allegations.
In an open letter published on her website, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner suggested rogue intelligence agents had fed Alberto Nisman false information in order to destabilize her government.
She also said she was convinced Alberto Nisman’s death was not suicide.
Days later, the president announced she planned to dissolve Argentina’s intelligence service, SI.
Critics said the move was aimed at diverting attention away from Alberto Nisman’s death.
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Argentine prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita has asked a federal judge to investigate President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner over allegations she helped cover up Iranian links to a deadly 1994 bombing.
Gerardo Pollicita inherited the case from Alberto Nisman, who was found dead in mysterious circumstances.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner denies the allegations, with the government calling the probe an “anti-democratic attack”.
The attack on a Jewish centre killed 85 people. Iran also denies involvement.
Gerardo Pollicita’s move mean the judge will have to decide whether to authorize new investigations to prove the president’s alleged involvement.
If the prosecutor and the judge agree that there are enough elements to prove Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner committed a crime, she could face prosecution and be charged.
Before his death, Alberto Nisman had published a report on the attack on the Amia Jewish centre.
He alleged that the president and others had conspired to protect Iranian suspects in the bombing case in exchange for favorable deals on oil and other goods.
Alberto Nisman was found shot in the head in January, hours before he was due to give evidence to Congress.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, accused the courts of trying to stage a “judicial coup” by pursuing the investigation, the AFP reported.
Prosecutor Alberto Nisman had planned an arrest warrant for Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, according to the woman investigating the prosecutor’s mysterious death.
Lead investigator Viviana Fein said the draft warrant was found in a rubbish bin in Alberto Nisman’s apartment complex.
Alberto Nisman was found dead in his Buenos Aires apartment last month, with a single bullet wound to the head.
Investigators have yet to establish if he killed himself, or was murdered.
Alberto Nisman had been investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires which killed 85 people.
He died hours before he was due to testify in Congress against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, whom he had accused of covering up alleged Iranian involvement in the 1994 attack.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has denied the allegation. Iran has also denied involvement in the attack.
Viviana Fein told a local radio station on February 3 that the draft warrant was “in the file”.
However, the document had not been included in a 300-page report submitted by Alberto Nisman to a federal court, days before his death.
The government dismissed as “garbage” a local newspaper report earlier this week that referred to the existence of the draft warrant.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had also originally described Alberto Nisman’s death as suicide. However, in a televised speech last week, the president suggested that rogue elements in Argentina’s intelligence service had fed Alberto Nisman false information and manipulated him.
The president announced plans to dismantle the Intelligence Secretariat (SI) and called for a special session of Congress to discuss a draft bill to that effect.
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Argentine journalist Damian Pachter who is believed to have been the first to report the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman says he has fled the country, fearing for his life.
Damian Pachter, who works for the Buenos Aires Herald, left Argentina early on Saturday.
Alberto Nisman’s body was found in his apartment a week ago, hours before he was due to testify in Congress.
The prosecutor had been investigating the bombing of a Jewish centre in the capital in 1994 which left 85 people dead.
Alberto Nisman, 51, had accused several senior government figures – including President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman – of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran’s alleged role in the bombing.
“I am leaving because my life is in danger,” Damian Pachter told the news website Infobae.com.
“My phones have been extensively tapped.”
Damian Pachter said he would return to Argentina when his sources told him conditions had changed.
On January 22, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said she was convinced that Alberto Nisman’s death was not suicide.
Investigators initially said they believed Alberto Nisman had committed suicide, but later said they could not rule out homicide or “induced suicide”.
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Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner says she is convinced the death of federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman was not suicide.
Alberto Nisman, 51, was found shot dead in his apartment on January 18.
The prosecutor probing Alberto Nisman’s death said it appeared to be suicide.
In a letter published on January 22, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner cast doubt on that theory.
Alberto Nisman had been investigating the 1994 deadly bombing of a Jewish centre.
Eighty-five people died in the bombing in Buenos Aires. It was Argentina’s worst terrorist attack.
Days prior to his death, Alberto Nisman had accused Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran’s alleged role in the 1994 bombing on the seven-storey AMIA community centre.
He died just hours before he was due to give details of his allegations to a congressional committee.
Alberto Nisman based his allegations on intercepted conversations which seem to suggest Argentine intelligence officers tried to whitewash the Iranian suspects in the 1994 bombing.
In a 300-page report, Alberto Nisman alleged that after years of tension caused by the 1994 bombing, the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was keen to improve ties with Iran in order to trade Argentine grain for badly needed oil.
Government spokesman Anibal Fernandez dismissed the allegations on January 21 as “absolutely feeble”.
In a letter published on her Twitter account, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said Alberto Nisman had been provided with “false information” and that the spies he quoted were not really spies at all but had misled him deliberately.
She also referred to his death as “the suicide (I’m convinced) was no suicide”.
Investigating prosecutor Viviane Fein had said on January 19 that there had been “no intervention” from others in Alberto Nisman’s death.
The prosecutor said the bullet found lodged in his head had been fired at close range from the gun which had been found lying next to Alberto Nisman’s body.
Viviane Fein added that the apartment’s door had been locked from the inside and that the key was in the lock.
She said there was no evidence of any outside “intervention”, although she did not rule out the possibility that Alberto Nisman had been “induced” to kill himself.
Relatives and friends of Alberto Nisman, who had spoken to him in the days prior to his death, said he appeared confident and in good spirits, although he did mention receiving threats.
Media speculation about whether Alberto Nisman’s death was a suicide has been mounting as new statements and evidence emerge.
On January, it was revealed that a test failed to detect any gunshot residue on Alberto Nisman’s hands.
While Viviane Fein said that the negative result could be due to the small caliber of the gun, it reignited suspicion that Alberto Nisman did not pull the trigger.
Remarks made by the locksmith who was called to gain access to Alberto Nisman’s flat further fuelled speculation.
The man, who only gave his name as Walter, described how it had taken him only two minutes to get in.
He said that the service door “was closed but not locked” and that it had been easy to “simply push the key” which was on the inside with the help of a wire.
“If someone entered or not, I don’t know,” he added.
Apart from the locked main door and the service door, investigators have found a third way into the apartment.
They said a narrow corridor housing air conditioning equipment linked Alberto Nisman’s apartment to that of a neighbor.
Recent footprints and fingerprints found inside the corridor are currently being tested.
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Argentine federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who accused President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner last week of a cover-up has been found dead at his home in the capital, Buenos Aires.
Alberto Nisman was investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires in which 85 people died.
On January 14, he accused Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran’s alleged role in the bombing.
The president’s spokesman dismissed the allegations as “ridiculous”.
Alberto Nisman, 51, was found dead by his mother in the bathroom of his home.
The Security Ministry released a statement saying that Alberto Nisman’s bodyguards had raised the alarm after he failed to answer their phone calls on January 18.
Concerned about his welfare, they fetched Alberto Nisman’s mother and tried to enter his apartment, the statement said.
They found the door locked from the inside with a key still stuck inside.
After a locksmith gained access, they found Alberto Nisman’s body in the bathroom.
According to the statement, a gun and a cartridge shell were found next to his body.
Alberto Nisman was due to give evidence at a congressional committee hearing on January 19 to outline his accusations against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and other officials.
He had published a 300-page report on January 14 alleging that the president and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman had opened a secret back channel to Iranians suspected of involvement in the bombing of the community centre.
Alberto Nisman alleged that the scheme was intended to clear the Iranian suspects in order to facilitate a trade deal between Iran and Argentina.
He said that he had issued a request that a judge question the president and the foreign minister “for being authors and accomplices of an aggravated cover-up and obstruction of justice regarding the Iranians accused of the AMIA [Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association] terrorist attack”.
The car bombing of the seven-storey building was the worst terrorist attack in Argentina’s history.
In 2007, Argentine prosecutors accused Iran of planning and financing the attack, and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of carrying it out.
Iran dismissed the allegations as “baseless”.
So far, no-one has been convicted in connection with the AMIA attack.
Last July, at events marking the 20th anniversary of the bombing, Pope Francis demanded justice for the victims.
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