Alberto Nisman was Murdered, His Family Says

Alberto Nisman's ex-wife Sandra said her report was available to official investigators

Independent tests show that Argentine special prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered, his family says.

At a news conference, Mr Nisman's ex-wife said the findings ruled out theories of accident or suicide.

Mr Nisman was found dead in his home on 18 January, hours before he was due to testify in Congress against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

He was probing Argentina's deadliest terrorist attack, the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish centre.

Sandra Arroyo Salgado, Mr Nisman's ex-wife, said a team of experts had made their conclusions based on reports from a post-mortem examination and existing forensic evidence.

Ms Arroyo Salgado, a federal judge, added that her report was at "the disposal of the prosecutor and judge" involved with the official investigation into Mr Nisman's death.

Despite telling journalists the report's conclusions, Ms Arroyo Salgado has not released the full details of the document.

Alberto Nisman, 29 May 2013

What the family report concludes:

Alberto Nisman claimed President Fernandez knew who was behind the bombing
There were no spasms in Mr Nisman's right hand, suggesting he had not shot himself
Additionally, no gunpowder residue was found on his hands
The prosecutor had been shot in the back of the head
Mr Nisman's body had been moved to the bathroom once he was shot
Claims that the prosecutor was drunk are false.

After presenting the report, Ms Arroyo Salgado expressed her disappointment that family members at the scene were not allowed to participate in Mr Nisman's autopsy, despite having the right to do so.

However, she said Mr Nisman's family had decided against conducting a second autopsy.

Following the press conference Viviana Fein, who is leading the investigation into Mr Nisman's death, told Argentina's Radio Nacional that she would consider Ms Arroyo Salgado's report.

Ms Fein told the station: "Up until now ... there has been nothing which allows me to say categorically whether this was a suicide or homicide. Nothing."

One of the experts who helped compile the report was Daniel Salcedo, a former Buenos Aires police chief. He was assisted by a forensic expert and forensic pathologist.


Analysis: Ignacio de los Reyes, BBC News, Buenos Aires

These new revelations are likely to add even more pressure to the investigation of the most controversial case in Argentina's recent history. They thrust the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Viviana Fein, into the spotlight.

For weeks she has faced criticism for refusing to say if Alberto Nisman was killed or took his own life, only describing the case as a mysterious death.

But for Mr Nisman's ex-wife there is only one mystery to be solved: who killed him? From the beginning of the investigation, Sandra Arroyo Salgado distrusted the way the first tests were carried out and appointed her own team of analysts.

Among other shocking revelations in her report, she says Mr Nisman died in agony and alleges that his body was moved after he died.

The nation's eyes are now on the Argentine justice system, which is facing some of its toughest tests ever. It is expected to solve the death of the man who created a political earthquake, and to decide whether to investigate the accusations made against the president and some of her highest ranking officials.

Police and rescuers in the wreckage of the Amia building in Buenos Aires
The 1994 attack was the worst act of terror in Argentina's history

Ms Arroyo Salgado's announcement comes a day after an Argentine prosecutor appealed against a judge's decision last week to throw out Mr Nisman's case against President Fernandez.

In a 350-page report, Mr Nisman had suggested Ms Fernandez covered up the alleged involvement of senior Iranian officials in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish centre.

Ms Fernandez has always rejected the allegations, claiming Mr Nisman was fed misleading information by a rogue intelligence agent trying to discredit her government.

Eighty-five people died in the car bomb attack, which completely destroyed the seven-storey Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (Amia) cultural centre in the capital Buenos Aires.

Argentina: President Cristina Fernandez Case Dismissed

President Fernandez's second term in office ends in December

A federal judge in Argentina has dismissed a controversial case against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her foreign minister.

They had been accused of covering up alleged Iranian involvement in a bomb attack against a Jewish centre in 1994.

Judge Daniel Rafecas has concluded that there was not enough evidence to pursue the charges.

The accusation came from special prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead last month in his flat.

Judge Rafecas said he was throwing out the case after carefully examining Mr Nisman's 350-page report.

There was no proof that an agreement signed by the Argentine government with Iran in January 2013 was an attempt to shield the involvement of senior Iranian officials in the attack, the judge said.

'No legal basis'
The agreement was rejected by the Iranian government two months later and was never approved by Iran's parliament.

Defence Minister Agustin Rossi welcomed Judge Rafecas' ruling saying: "We have always said that Nisman's claims had no legal basis."

Mr Nisman was found dead just hours
before he was due to give evidence
to a congressional committee

The case against Ms Fernandez and foreign minister Hector Timerman is now closed.

But the BBC's Wyre Davies says the judicial system in Argentina is highly politicised and the decision to cease investigations will further polarise a dangerously divided nation.

'Rogue agent'
Mr Nisman was due to testify in Congress against Ms Fernandez and Mr Timerman the day after his body was found.

The circumstances of his death have not been clarified.

President Fernandez said Mr Nisman been fed misleading information by a rogue intelligence agent. The government has rejected any role in his death.

Thousands of people marched through the streets of Buenos Aires
last week to demand justice for Mr Nisman

The lower house of the Argentine Congress has meanwhile approved a bill scrapping the country's secret agency, the Intelligence Secretariat.

The proposal was first announced days after Ms Nisman's death, on 18 January.

A new federal investigative agency, which will be accountable to Congress, will replace it.

Ms Fernandez said the change was overdue because the agency had remained largely untouched since the end of military rule in 1983.

The opposition called the proposal a smokescreen for its involvement in the scandal.

Argentina Congress Votes to Dissolve Intelligence Agency

Argentina's Congress has approved a bill to scrap the country's intelligence agency

The lower house of Argentina's Congress passed the bill
with 131 votes in favour, 71 against

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.

She accused a rogue agent of feeding misleading information to Mr Nisman, who was investigating the government.

The lower house of Congress voted 131 to 71 in favour of the bill. It had already been passed by the Senate.

Marathon session
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 Ms Fernandez.

Argentina's Intelligence Secretariat (SI, also known by its previous name Side)

Founded in 1946 by General Juan Peron as a civilian intelligence agency
Mission was to provide both internal and foreign intelligence
Evolved into a secret police force during Argentina's Dirty War (1974-1983)
Used by military junta to track down opponents and spy on "subversives", including trade union and other left-wing activists
Survived the transition to democracy in 1983
Critics allege SI has since been used to monitor the activities of critical journalists, politicians, judges and prosecutors
No official staffing figures available - but analysts believe it has grown in influence and size in the past decade
Led since December 2014 by Oscar Parrilli following the resignation of Hector Icazuriaga after 11 years

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
speaking during a national simultaneous broadcast
The Argentine president said Mr Nisman's death was part of a plot to discredit her

Ms Fernandez 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 Wednesday evening, governing party lawmaker Diana Conti described the vote as "a fight for the democratisation 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.

"What worries us is that there has not been, nor will there be proper control," he told Reuters news agency.

Mr Garrido also said the law was a smokescreen to divert attention from the death under mysterious circumstances of federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman.

Mr Nisman was found dead just hours before he was due to give evidence
to a congressional committee

Mr Nisman, who was 51, was found dead in his flat on 18 January 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.

Mr Nisman had accused President Fernandez and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran's alleged role in the bombing.

Ms Fernandez rejected the allegations and said a former secret agent had misled the prosecutor in order to discredit her government.

Who knows whether Cristina's accusations are true or not? Her drastic action to shut down the secret service seems to lend credibility to her. But if her accusations are an attempt at smoke and mirrors, it seems to be working quite well, so far.

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

Plazo de Mayo, Buenos Aires where the presidential palace is located

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in a march in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, to mark one month since the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman.

The protest was called by federal prosecutors and attended by Mr Nisman's family and opposition politicians.

They defied torrential rain to demand justice for Mr Nisman, who had been investigating the government.

The prosecutor was found dead in his apartment on 18 January.

It is still not clear whether he killed himself or was murdered.

Mr 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.

Mr 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.

Murdered prosecutor Alberto Nisman

Argentines living in Spain, France, Israel and other countries also gathered to demand justice for Mr Nisman.

Officials have denounced the march as a political move to weaken the government.

Mr 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.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

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 his 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.

'Rogue agents'
In an open letter published on her website, President Fernandez suggested rogue intelligence agents had fed Mr Nisman false information in order to destabilise her government.

She also said she was convinced Mr Nisman's death was not suicide.

Days later, she announced she planned to dissolve Argentina's intelligence service, SI.

Critics said the move was aimed at diverting attention away from Mr Nisman's death.

In fact, it was a good move by the much beleaguered, but always elegant President. If rogue elements had been involved in planting false information, or even in the death of Mr Nisman, then they had to be cut down. 

On the other hand, if they had been acting on behalf of the President (whether she knew it or not), and murdered Nisman, they did such an amateur job of it, they deserved to be fired. I would think a country the size of Argentina would have a secret service capable of doing a better job of murdering someone.

Earlier, President Fernandez and her cabinet attended an unrelated event at the Atucha power plant, in the city of Zarate, 90km (55 miles) north of the capital.

Ms Fernandez said she would not bow to internal or external pressure and would remain in office until December, when her term ends.

"This government will not allow anyone else to impose their rules on us," she said in a speech that was broadcast on national television.

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner May Face Argentina Bomb Probe

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

An Argentine prosecutor 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.

Prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita inherited the case from Alberto Nisman, who was found dead in mysterious circumstances.

The president denies the allegations, with the government calling the probe an "anti-democratic attack".

The attack on a Jewish centre killed 85 people. Iran denies being involved.

The latest prosecutor's move means the judge will have to decide whether to authorise new investigations to prove the president's alleged involvement.

In this July 18, 1994 file photo, (right) firefighters and rescue workers search through the rubble of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association community center, after a car bomb rocked the building in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina
The investigation looks at the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires

If the prosecutor and the judge agree that there are enough elements to prove Ms Fernandez committed a crime, she could face prosecution and be charged.

Analysis: Ignacio de los Reyes, BBC News, Argentina

Although this was an expected move, it could not have come at a worse time for the Argentine president.

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was already facing criticism for the way she has been managing the Nisman case, which has become the worst crisis of her political career so far.

Now she will also face pressure from the judiciary, which is demanding an unprecedented investigation into a sitting president - one that could end up with an impeachment-like process if she is found guilty.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are calling for a massive protest on the streets of Buenos Aires next week in what is expected to become the largest anti-government march in recent years.

Opposition leaders, unions and even the Catholic Church are joining calls for a fair and independent investigation into a death that has shocked this nation.

Alberto Nisman

Before his death, Mr 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 favourable deals on oil and other goods.

Mr Nisman was found shot in the head in January, hours before he was due to give evidence to a congressional committee.

The president suggested he may have been manipulated into killing himself by rogue security agents in an attempt to discredit her.

A document written by Mr Nisman's successor said there was enough evidence to go ahead with the case.

"An investigation will be initiated with an eye toward substantiating... the accusations and whether those responsible can be held criminally responsible," Mr Pollicita wrote.

President Fernandez's cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, accused the courts of trying to stage a "judicial coup" by pursuing the investigation.

Anibal Fernandez, a spokesman for the presidency, said moving the case forward was a "clear manoeuvre to destabilise democracy''.

A team of police investigators arrive at Le Parc Tower where the late prosecutor
Alberto Nisman was found dead

Timeline
January 14: Nisman files a 300-page report accusing President Fernandez of colluding to shield Iranian suspects.
January 18: Nisman is found dead at his apartment
January 22: President Fernandez says she is not convinced his death was suicide
January 27: The president announces she is disbanding Argentina's intelligence agency following the death
February 10: Experts find DNA from an unidentified person in Nisman's apartment
February 13: Prosecutors say they are pursuing Nisman's claims