Argentina orders trial in absentia for suspects in
AMIA bombing in '94
June 26 (UPI) -- Ten Iranian and Lebanese suspects will be tried in absentia for killing 85 and injuring more than 300 at the Argentine Mutual Israelite Association in Buenos Aires in 1994.
Argentine federal Judge Daniel Rafecas on Thursday applied the nation's new "trial in absentia" law to try the suspects for the terrorist bombing that is the deadliest terror attack in Argentina's history.
The families of truck-bombing victims Mario Averbuch and Luis Czyzewski recently petitioned Rafecas to apply the new law and end years of delays in the matter.
Officials in Argentina, the United States and Israel have accused Iran of ordering Hezbollah members to carry out the attack, The Times of Israel reported.
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The attack was the largest against a Jewish community that is located outside of Israel since the Holocaust, but no arrests have been made.
Rafecas ordered 10 defendants to be tried, including current Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader Ahmad Vahidi.
Other defendants to be tried in absentia include Ali Fallahijan, Ali Akbar Velayati, Mohsen Rezai, Hadi Soleimanpour and Mohsen Rabbani.
Also to be tried are Ahmad Reza Asghari, Salman Raouf Salman, Abdallah Salman and Hussein Mounir Mouzannar.
Argentine prosecutors in April also sought an arrest warrant for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A trial in absentia would help to "uncover the truth and reconstruct what happened" before and during the truck bombing attack, Rafecas said.
He said the trial is justified due to the nature of the crime and that the suspects are unlikely to ever be tried in person or otherwise be held accountable.
The named defendants are former Lebanese and Iranian diplomats and ministers, for whom Argentina has issued international warrants for their arrest.
Iranian officials have denied any involvement in the bombing and refuse to arrest and extradite the suspects to Argentina.
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