Argentine President Cristina Kirchner was formally accused Friday of trying to protect Iranian officials implicated in a notorious 1994 bombing as prosecutors renewed explosive allegations first aired by a colleague who died mysteriously last month.
The case against Kirchner had been pursued by late prosecutor Alberto Nisman before he was found dead from a gunshot wound on the eve of congressional hearings on his probe into the bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, which killed 85 people.
Nisman, 51, alleged that Kirchner had protected high-ranking Iranian officials from prosecution over the bombing in exchange for oil.
Attorney General Alejandra Gils Garbo named a new team of three prosecutors plus a coordinator Friday to take over the politically charged case.
She said the new team comprised "prosecutors who have demonstrated their integrity and bravery on many occasions."
The prosecutors promptly endorsed Nisman's conclusions, accusing Kirchner, Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and other figures close to the government of mounting a cover-up and violating their duties.
The accusation now goes to the judge in the case, Daniel Rafecas, to decide whether to call Kirchner to make a statement.
Kirchner, 61, has presidential immunity and could only face punishment over the case if two-thirds of Congress voted to remove it -- unlikely in the current legislature, where she enjoys a majority in both chambers.
- 'Judicial coup' -
Kirchner's cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, accused the courts of trying to stage a "judicial coup" by pursuing the case against the embattled leader, and lashed out at prosecutors' plans to hold a march next Wednesday to mark one month since Nisman's death.
The government also presented its official rebuttal to Nisman's allegations, saying that "no action on the part of government officials was designed to dis-incriminate Iranian citizens."
The bombing at the Buenos Aires Jewish center, known as AMIA, was the deadliest such attack in Argentina's history.
After the initial investigation ended with no convictions, Nisman was named in 2006 to reopen the case.
He accused Iran of ordering the attack via Lebanon-based Shiite movement Hezbollah, and requested arrest warrants for five Iranian officials including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
On January 14, four days before he was found dead, Nisman filed a 300-page report accusing Kirchner and Timerman of colluding to shield the Iranian suspects from prosecution.
His death was initially labeled a suicide, but suspicion has fallen on Kirchner's government.
The president has suggested Nisman was manipulated by disgruntled former intelligence agents who then killed him to smear her.
Kirchner has clashed with the intelligence establishment, moving to dissolve Argentina's Intelligence Secretariat, which she says operates with agents and methods dating back to the country's 1976-1983 dictatorship.
She wants to create a new Federal Intelligence Agency that would have reduced wiretapping powers and wield less influence on certain political cases.
The proposal passed the Senate Thursday and now heads to the lower house for debate.
- Missing ex-spy -
Kirchner has accused a powerful ex-spy, Antonio "Jaime" Stiuso, of feeding information to Nisman.
The prosecutor investigating Nisman's death, Viviana Fein, has summoned Stiuso for questioning. But he has yet to appear and intelligence agents have been unable to find him.
Fein says Stiuso received "repeated" phone calls from Nisman the night he died.
The last person to see Nisman alive was his assistant Diego Lagomarsino, a computer expert who lent him the .22-caliber revolver that killed him.
Lagomarsino, who has been charged with giving a firearm to someone other than its registered owner, says he brought Nisman the gun because the late prosecutor told him he feared for his life.
The government says Lagomarsino is an agent for Stiuso.
Lagomarsino has admitted to giving Nisman the gun that killed him, though it remains a mystery who pulled the trigger.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner was formally accused Friday of trying to protect Iranian officials implicated in a notorious 1994 bombing as prosecutors renewed explosive allegations first aired by a colleague who died mysteriously last month.
The case against Kirchner had been pursued by late prosecutor Alberto Nisman before he was found dead from a gunshot wound on the eve of congressional hearings on his probe into the bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, which killed 85 people.
Nisman, 51, alleged that Kirchner had protected high-ranking Iranian officials from prosecution over the bombing in exchange for oil.
Attorney General Alejandra Gils Garbo named a new team of three prosecutors plus a coordinator Friday to take over the politically charged case.
She said the new team comprised “prosecutors who have demonstrated their integrity and bravery on many occasions.”
The prosecutors promptly endorsed Nisman’s conclusions, accusing Kirchner, Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and other figures close to the government of mounting a cover-up and violating their duties.
The accusation now goes to the judge in the case, Daniel Rafecas, to decide whether to call Kirchner to make a statement.
Kirchner, 61, has presidential immunity and could only face punishment over the case if two-thirds of Congress voted to remove it — unlikely in the current legislature, where she enjoys a majority in both chambers.
– ‘Judicial coup’ –
Kirchner’s cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, accused the courts of trying to stage a “judicial coup” by pursuing the case against the embattled leader, and lashed out at prosecutors’ plans to hold a march next Wednesday to mark one month since Nisman’s death.
The government also presented its official rebuttal to Nisman’s allegations, saying that “no action on the part of government officials was designed to dis-incriminate Iranian citizens.”
The bombing at the Buenos Aires Jewish center, known as AMIA, was the deadliest such attack in Argentina’s history.
After the initial investigation ended with no convictions, Nisman was named in 2006 to reopen the case.
He accused Iran of ordering the attack via Lebanon-based Shiite movement Hezbollah, and requested arrest warrants for five Iranian officials including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
On January 14, four days before he was found dead, Nisman filed a 300-page report accusing Kirchner and Timerman of colluding to shield the Iranian suspects from prosecution.
His death was initially labeled a suicide, but suspicion has fallen on Kirchner’s government.
The president has suggested Nisman was manipulated by disgruntled former intelligence agents who then killed him to smear her.
Kirchner has clashed with the intelligence establishment, moving to dissolve Argentina’s Intelligence Secretariat, which she says operates with agents and methods dating back to the country’s 1976-1983 dictatorship.
She wants to create a new Federal Intelligence Agency that would have reduced wiretapping powers and wield less influence on certain political cases.
The proposal passed the Senate Thursday and now heads to the lower house for debate.
– Missing ex-spy –
Kirchner has accused a powerful ex-spy, Antonio “Jaime” Stiuso, of feeding information to Nisman.
The prosecutor investigating Nisman’s death, Viviana Fein, has summoned Stiuso for questioning. But he has yet to appear and intelligence agents have been unable to find him.
Fein says Stiuso received “repeated” phone calls from Nisman the night he died.
The last person to see Nisman alive was his assistant Diego Lagomarsino, a computer expert who lent him the .22-caliber revolver that killed him.
Lagomarsino, who has been charged with giving a firearm to someone other than its registered owner, says he brought Nisman the gun because the late prosecutor told him he feared for his life.
The government says Lagomarsino is an agent for Stiuso.
Lagomarsino has admitted to giving Nisman the gun that killed him, though it remains a mystery who pulled the trigger.
