Death of Argentine Prosecutor Alberto Nisman Ruled a Homicide

By Daniel Uria 

A federal judge charged IT security expert Diego Lagomarsino with accessory to murder in the death

of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisma on Tuesday. Photo by sebra/Shutterstock

UPI -- A federal judge in Argentina ruled the 2015 death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman was a homicide.

Judge Julian Ercolini charged IT security expert Diego Lagomarsino with accessory to murder on Tuesday as part of his 656-page ruling regarding the death of Nisman, marking the first time the incident was referred to as a murder.

"The death of Prosecutor Nisman was not a suicide, and was brought about by a third party and in a painful manner," Ercolini said in the ruling.

Ercolini said Nisman was killed with a weapon belonging to Lagomarsino, who was also the last person inside his apartment, where he was found dead from a gunshot wound to his head, on Jan. 18, 2015.

Lagomarsino previously admitted the bullet that killed Nisman came from a handgun he owned, but said Nisman asked to borrow the weapon after receiving threats against him and his daughters.

Lagomarsino said the courts should judge him for lending Nisman the gun if he "committed a crime" but said "I have nothing to do with the rest."

Nisman was killed days after he filed a report accusing former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and other officials of covering up Iran's involvement in a 1994 Jewish community center bombing that left 85 people dead and more than 300 injured.

Kirchner, 64, was charged with treason on Dec. 7 as part of an ongoing investigation into the bombing.

Ercolini said there were numerous events that caused public officials to "publicly push the idea of suicide" following Nisman's death, which created an "almost unambiguous public certainty that Nisman had taken his own life."

He added while he accused Lagomarsino of role in the homicide the actual perpetrators "remain unknown."

Ercolini also indicted four of Nisman's bodyguards -- Ruben Benitez, Nestor Duran, Armando Niz and Luis Mino -- accusing them of negligence and failing to detect when the shooting happened, which he said allowed the perpetrators to leave the scene undetected.

So they were either grossly incompetent, or complicit. 

Argentina Judge Issues Arrest Warrant for Former President Kirchner for 'Treason'

Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly in de Kirchner's Argentina

By Daniel Uria

A judge in Argentina issued an arrest warrant for former president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, accusing her of treason. Photo by Stefano Spaziani/UPI | License Photo

UPI -- A judge in Argentina issued a warrant for the arrest of former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on Thursday on charges of treason.

Judge Claudio Bonadio accused Kirchner, 64, of seeking to negotiate a deal with Iran to obtain trade concessions in exchange for covering up Tehran's role in a 1994 terror attack on the AMIA Jewish center that killed 85 people.

See also:

Argentina Requests Extradition of Former Iranian FM for Role in 1994 Jewish Center Bombing

Alberto Nisman was Murdered, His Family Says

Jewish Centre Bombing: Argentine Prosecutor Nisman Found Dead

Argentina Congress Votes to Dissolve Intelligence Agency

Hundreds of Thousands Rally in Argentina Over the Death of Alberto Nisman

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner May Face Argentina Bomb Probe

"There's no crime, there's no case. Bonadio knows it. The government knows it. President [Mauricio] Macri also knows it," Kirchner said.

Her arrest warrant stems from a 2015 investigation by federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead at his home less than a week after accusing Kirchner of the coverup.

Kirchner previously called the accusations "absurdity" and claimed they were part of a conspiracy to undermine her presidency.

Kirchner was granted legal immunity after being sworn in as a senator in October. Bonadio has also asked lawmakers to remove her immunity, which would require a two-thirds majority vote by Congress.

The judge also called for the arrest of Kirchner's former aide, Carlos Zanni, social activist Luis D'Elia and Muslim cleric Jorge Alejandro Khalil, all of whom were arrested in raids Thursday morning.

Hector Timerman, the former foreign minister, was held on house arrest due to health issues.

Kirchner faces trial in several other cases of corruption and money laundering during her time as president.

The treason charge is the most serious and carries a potential prison sentence of up to 15 years.

Argentina Requests Extradition of Former Iranian FM for Role in 1994 Jewish Center Bombing

by TheTower.org Staff


Ali Akbar Velayati  [Photo: Fars News ]

Argentina has requested the extradition of Iran’s former foreign minister due to his alleged role in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aries, Agence France-Presse reported Friday.

The extradition of Ali Akbar Velayati, currently a close advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was sent by Investigating Judge Rodolfo Canicoba to the government of Iraq, where Velayati is currently visiting. Canicoba made similar requests to Singapore and Malaysia when Velayati visited those nations in July.

Argentinian authorities suspect five senior Iranian officials, including Velayati and former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, of being involved in the bombing, which killed 85 people and is the deadliest-ever terror attack on Argentinian soil.

Prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was charged with investigating the AMIA bombing, died of a gunshot wound to the head in January 2015 under mysterious circumstances. In March, a three-judge panel unanimously referred the inquiry into Nisman’s death to a federal court to be investigated as a political murder.

Nisman was also investigating a pact made by then-Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to jointly investigate the bombing with Iranian authorities. Nisman alleged that Kirchner and other senior Argentinian authorities were engaged in a quid pro quo to cover up Iran’s involvement in the bombing in exchange for favorable trade deals. He died shortly before (less than 24 hours) he was due to present his proof to the national congress.

A journalist investigating his death fled Argentina for his life after being threatened.

The murder also resulted in de Kirchner-Fernandez  dissolving the Argentine Secret Service which had been operating for nearly 70 years.

A court later declared that the joint investigation was unconstitutional. New president Mauricio Macri, who was elected last December, said that he would not renew the agreement to jointly investigate the bombing.

In Can Argentina’s New Government Deliver Justice for Its Victims of Iranian Terror?, which was published in the January 2016 issue of The Tower Magazine, Eamonn MacDonagh examined the possibility that the Macri government would bring the perpetrators of the AMIA to justice as well as the obstacles it would face in doing so.

There is no possibility that Velayati will ever be extradited from Iran or anywhere else for that matter, but cudos for trying. Does anyone still doubt that Iran's raison d'etre is to kill Jews?