Judge turns away Alberto Nisman's case against president of Argentina

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian

Judge turns away Alberto Nisman's case against president of Argentina

Question mark over future of Iran conspiracy claims that were raised against Cristina Fernández de Kirchner by prosecutor who was later found dead

Jonathan Watts, Latin America correspondent
Monday 2 February 2015 20.37 EST

An Argentinian judge has refused to pursue allegations that president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner conspired with Iran to cover up the nation’s deadliest terrorist attack – raising the prospect of the case dying along with the prosecutor who presented it.

The accusation was made in January by Alberto Nisman, who less than a week after presenting the indictment was found dead with a bullet in his head.

In a nearly 300-page legal document he had claimed that the president, her foreign minister Hector Timmerman and other aides plotted to shift the blame for the 1994 bombing of the Amia Jewish community centre so that Argentina could secure access to Iranian oil.

The allegations shocked Argentina, which has already seen one former president, Carlos Menem, indicted for trying to subvert the course of justice regarding the attack, which killed 85 people.

But many analysts said Nisman’s case was flawed because it relied too heavily on intelligence from wiretaps and appeared to have been contradicted by events. Argentina has not boosted trade with Iran and the former head of Interpol has denied that its government has ever requested the lifting of “red notice” warrants against Iranian officials who were allegedly involved in the bombing.





Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/03/judge-turns-away-alberto-nismans-case-against-argentinas-president

[forest444]

1. And this judge is no softie

He is, moreover, an opponent of Cristina Kirchner's, and in fact never hesitated in issuing indictments to all and sundry during on the last high-profile case involving the administration (the influence peddling allegations against Vice President Amado Boudou) despite the highly circumstantial and hearsay nature of the case.

When the late Alberto Nisman filed his complaint and wiretap transcripts, he circumvented the judge presiding over the AMIA case and filed the complaint with Judge Lijo in the hope that a hostile judge might throw the book against the president. As we just learned, he did not.

Both the judge overseeing the investigation into Nisman's death (Fabiana Palmaghini), and the primary person of interest in the case (Diego Lagomarsino) regularly papered their Facebook and Twitter walls with vulgarities directed at Mrs. Kirchner herself.

[BainsBane]

3. Who do you think killed Nisman?

Surely it wasn't suicide.

[forest444]

5. Good question. The answer might just lie in the timing.

Seeing as it happened the day before his much-touted Congressional appearance. And contrary to the innuendo one hears from the right, no one killed him to "silence" him: he died after turning in his entire complaint and wiretap transcripts.

Not that the complaint itself contributed anything (http://buenosairesherald.com/article/180042/nothing-new-nismans-report-fails-to-fan-flames-of-conspiracy-). AMIA victims' rights groups had been calling for his replacement for years.

Make no mistake: Nisman's death is the best thing that could have happened as far as some groups are concerned, and they're not about to let this opportunity pass by, least of all in an election year. What most outsiders don't realize is that the unholy alliance of dictatorship apologists and free-marketeers are still very much alive and kicking in Argentina - and Señora Kirchner is their public enemy number one.

But she made other enemies as well (http://www.france24.com/en/20150123-rogue-agents-killed-argentine-prosecutor-intelligence-service/). The disgraced former State Counterintelligence director Antonio Stiusso (who conducted Nisman's cherry-picked wiretaps) is one such character. Stiusso was fired last year as part of an agency-wide overhaul of Argentina's State Intelligence (SI); it was Stiusso who persuaded Nisman to dismiss his 10-man detail.

Besides Stiusso, the late Mr. Nisman consorted with a very sordid cast of characters, unfortunately (http://buenosairesherald.com/article/180288/car-leads-to-more-intelligence-questions) - his friend Diego Lagomarsino, for one. Lagomarsino's gun fired the fatal shot, and far from being an "innocent bystander" he's known to have spied on protesters. His own lawyer (who had defended former President Carlos Menem in the Ecuador/Croatia arms trafficking case) practically admitted Lagomarsino was an SI asset just two days ago.

The SI has resisted changes in the entire 31 years since the dictatorship left power basically by employing extortion or, typically, just the threat of extortion. They also have a history of false-flag operations, notably the 1974 kidnapping of the Born brothers, who, though kidnapped by far-left terrorist group Montoneros, were kept for 9 months in an SI safe house. The first president in the modern democratic era, Raúl Alfonsín, halfheartedly attempted to reform the agency in 1985 - only to have one of his top fundraisers and closest personal friends, Osvaldo Sivak, killed by SI agents in what was initially believed by the public to be a ransom kidnapping.

If nothing else, I hope his death might at least serve to bring about some badly needed changes.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Must keep this post for future reference. Tremendous. Thank you for your invaluable help. n/t

[forest444]

10. Likewise!

For where would DU's Latin America billboard be without you, Judi Lynn.

[Ghost Dog]

11. Bienvenido a DU, forest444.

[forest444]

12. Gracias, Ghost Dog

I had been following DU for about 4 years off and on, so I felt it was about time.

[riderinthestorm]

2. Wow! Very interesting nt

[MisterP]

4. are they suspecting a Rodrigo Rosenberg situation?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_Rosenberg_Marzano

[forest444]

6. The Argentine right is hoping they could spin it into one, yes

But even in Argentina this notion has failed to pick up much traction, seeing as the death took place after the complaint and entire wiretap transcripts had already been turned in.

I went into some of the particulars in more detail above, in reply to BainsBane's question.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Your link is so important on this character. Wow. I had no idea it was this complex.

You have been deeply helpful for those of us who followed it, then thought it was resolved, but never, never had learned any of the wild background involved.

Leaves people more convinced than ever of their original conclusions, I have no doubt whatsoever. Completely interesting.

[forest444]

8. Thank you for that, Judi Lynn.

The only reality, after all, is the truth.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Ex-intelligence officer called to in prosecutor death case

Ex-intelligence officer called to in prosecutor death case
Posted: Thursday, February 5, 2015 11:06 am | Updated: 2:30 pm, Thu Feb 5, 2015.
Associated Press |

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Argentine investigators on Thursday called a recently deposed senior intelligence officer to testify as they attempt to understand the mysterious death of a prosecutor who accused President Cristina Fernandez of agreeing to shield the masterminds of a 1994 terror bombing.

Antonio "Jaime" Stiuso was called to speak with lead investigator Viviana Fein, said Secretary of Intelligence Oscar Parrilli. Stiuso's whereabouts, however, are unknown. Parrilli said officials searched for him unsuccessfully at three residences where he had been known to live.

~ snip ~

By law, intelligence officials are prohibited from disclosing state secrets. But, Parrilli said, Fernandez would present an order exempting Stiuso from the restriction, clearing the way for him to speak about anything.
"The president wants all the truth to be known, and wants Stiuso to tell us everything, from (when he joined the agency in) 1972 until now," Parrilli told reporters outside Congress.

~ snip ~

Testimony by Stiuso is expected to be key to the investigation into the Jan. 18 death of Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor who was found shot dead hours before he was to detail allegations that Fernandez helped shield Iranian officials connected to the 1994 terrorist bombing of a Jewish community. The attack which killed 85 remains unsolved.

Fernandez, who has denied any wrongdoing, has suggested Stiuso was involved in Nisman's death but has not elaborated. The spy chief had collaborated with Nisman in his 10-year investigation and retired from the intelligence agency on Jan. 5.

Media reports have said Stiuso telephoned Nisman on Jan. 17 but Blanco Bermudez, speaking to the television station TN on Thursday, said he could not confirm the reports. The lawyer said Stiuso had "a fleet of phones, around 100."

More:
http://www.omaha.com/news/world/lawyer-ex-spy-operative-in-argentina-had-cell-phones/article_ceed0dfb-8f32-5273-b5e4-7bf9d0729e6a.html

[Judi Lynn]

14. Argentina Prosecutor Who Accused Kirchner Had Steady Contact With US Embassy, Leaked Cables Show

Argentina Prosecutor Who Accused Kirchner Had Steady Contact With US Embassy, Leaked Cables Show
By Gaston Cavanagh
January 30, 2015 | 2:40 pm

Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor who accused Argentina's president of a cover-up plot over the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center before being found shot to death, met repeatedly with the US embassy in Buenos Aires during his investigation, leaked diplomatic cables show.

Nisman gave US officials advanced notice on his procedural moves and was apparently coached by the embassy in "improving" his requests for arrest warrants for Iranians that Nisman suspected of carrying out the deadly attack against the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association, or AIMA, according to cables published by Wikileaks.

"Embassy can now more logically approach the [government of Argentina] about [its] anticipated next steps and ways we might be able to coordinate outreach to other governments [...] to bring attention to the warrants and pressure to bear on Iran and Hezbollah," says one US cable dated November 1, 2006, after a meeting with Nisman.

The revelations are adding fodder to the entangled scandal over the AIMA center bombing, Nisman's mysterious death, and the reactions of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her government loyalists.

More:
https://news.vice.com/article/argentina-prosecutor-who-accused-kirchner-had-steady-contact-with-us-embassy-leaked-cables-show

[Judi Lynn]

15. Dead prosecutor was a 'soldier' of ex-Argentine spy boss

Dead prosecutor was a 'soldier' of ex-Argentine spy boss
By Sarah Marsh and Eliana Raszewski
BUENOS AIRES Fri Feb 6, 2015 11:15am EST


(Reuters) - The Argentine prosecutor found dead last month was the unwitting "soldier" of former counterintelligence chief Antonio Stiusso, who was seeking revenge for his firing, President Cristina Fernandez's chief of staff said. Anibal Fernandez, who is not related to the president, told Reuters late on Thursday that it was clear years ago that Stiusso called the shots in his relationship with prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who had been investigating the deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center.

Nisman was found slumped in a pool of blood, a single bullet to the head, on Jan. 18, days after filing a 300-page document accusing the president of plotting to whitewash his findings that Iran had backed the attack. But the president's chief of staff said it was clear the document had not been written by a legal expert.

"I am convinced Nisman did not write the charges," Fernandez said in an interview in his wood-paneled office inside the Casa Rosada, the seat of government, late on Thursday. "In his role as a soldier in Stiusso's army, he ended up signing them." Fernandez recalled a 2006 meeting with Nisman over the prosecutor's reluctance to travel to a meeting with Interpol. Stiusso was also present. "You realized who was the commander and who was the commanded," Fernandez said.

Stiusso was one of the Intelligence Secretariat's most powerful yet enigmatic operatives. Although his career spanned 42 years, only one photograph of the divorced father-of-two is publicly known.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/06/us-argentina-prosecutor-idUSKBN0LA1S620150206?rpc=401