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Argentinian court will now treat Alberto Nisman's death as a homicide investigation Alberto Nisman: testimony of ex-spy chief swings case towards murder
(about 7 hours later)
The Argentinian judge overseeing the investigation into the mysterious death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman has announced that she is passing the case to a federal court to be treated as a homicide investigation. Dramatic testimony by a former Argentinian spy has shifted the investigation into the mysterious death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman towards the presumption that he was murdered.
Judge Fabiana Palmaghina’s announcement came just hours after a former operations chief of the country’s disbanded spy agency testified in court that Alberto Nisman had been murdered because of his work. Antonio Stiuso – a senior intelligence official who worked closely with Nisman before his death in January 2015 – returned from self-imposed exile to give a marathon 17-hour court statement on Monday that looks likely to put renewed pressure on former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
Until now, Palmaghina had pursued the hypothesis that Nisman had killed himself, but in her ruling – made public on Tuesday afternoon – she cited a section of testimony by former spy chief Antonio Stiuso in which he suggested that Iran was involved in Nisman’s death. His full testimony remains sealed, but domestic media have published what they say are extracts in which Stiuso accuses a group close to the former government of carrying out the murder and tampering with evidence from the crime scene.
“With the Iranians, it’s irrelevant whether or not you have bodyguards, because if you are a target, they study you, they study and get to know your movements. Having bodyguards is pointless when these people are your enemy,” Stiuso said during his appearance at a 17-hour appearance at a closed court on Monday. “The author of all this madness was that woman, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner,” Stiuso told the judge, according to Infobae.
“[Nisman’s] death was intimately linked to the work he was doing,” he said, according to a transcript of the judge’s ruling. The allegations are not confirmed, nor has any supporting evidence been published, but the former spy chief’s testimony has been enough to prompt a change of heart by Judge Fabiana Palmaghina, who previously defended the possibility of a suicide.
Judge Palmaghini said that her conclusion was also prompted by the “extensive” contamination of the death scene by at least 20 people – and the apparent tampering with Nisman’s computers and phones by the security officers in the first hours of the investigation. After hearing Stiuso’s testimony, Palmaghina – who has presided over the Nisman investigation since its beginning – referred the case to a higher federal court as a likely homicide.
“This can’t have been all coincidences or mistakes,” she said. Explaining her decision, she cited the “extensive” contamination of the crime scene by at least 20 people and the apparent tampering with Nisman’s computers and phones in the first hours of the investigation. “These can’t have been all coincidences or mistakes,” she said.
The dramatic developments came two weeks after the first anniversary of a death that stunned Argentinians. Nisman was found lying in the bathroom of his rented apartment with a gunshot wound to his head, the day before he was due to appear before congress to present allegations against then-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. A shift in the political winds is also likely to have shaped her decision. Palmaghina’s volte-face follows a ruling by federal appeals court prosecutor Ricardo Sáenz on Monday that the case should be relabelled a homicide, accepting an appeal by Nisman’s family.
Fernández has argued that the unexplained death was either a suicide or a deliberate attempt to sabotage her government, but the country’s new president Mauricio Macri, appears to support the theory that Nisman was murdered.
Addressing the first session of congress on Tuesday, Macri said: “Let’s not forget that little more than a year ago prosecutor Alberto Nisman appeared dead in circumstances that remain uncertain but that are slowly starting to clear up.”
Nisman died just hours before he was due to present evidence to support his theory that Fernández had secretly negotiated with Iran to obtain trade concessions in return for camouflaging Iran’s alleged role in a terrorist bombing in Buenos Aires at a Jewish community centre that killed 85 people and left hundreds others wounded.
Nisman had obtained hundreds of hours of wiretaps that he claimed showed that Fernández was acting through a network of intelligence operatives and activists to help shield Iran from Nisman’s investigation into the terrorist blast.
Related: Spies, cover-ups and the mysterious death of an Argentinian prosecutorRelated: Spies, cover-ups and the mysterious death of an Argentinian prosecutor
The case sent shockwaves through Argentina, with rival explanations for the Nisman’s death mirroring the political divide between Fernandez and her opponents. It also follows a promise by recently elected President Mauricio Macri to end the logjam in the investigation by declassifying documents and encouraging intelligence officials to testify.
In recent months, pressure had grown for Palmaghini to pass the case to one of the country’s top federal judges, who would be better equipped to handle the politically sensitive investigation. None will be more important than Stiuso, former operations chief of the disbanded spy agency who worked closely with Nisman before his death.
Nisman’s former wife, Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, had already appealed the judge to relabel the case as “homicide” and transfer it to a federal court. The prosecutor was found lying in the bathroom of his rented apartment with a gunshot wound to his head, the day before he was due to appear before congress to present allegations that then-president Fernández had secretly negotiated with Iran to obtain trade concessions in return for camouflaging Iran’s role in a terrorist bombing in Buenos Aires at a Jewish community centre in 1994 that killed 85 people and left hundreds wounded.
At Monday’s hearing, Stiuso – who worked closely with Nisman during the investigation into the 1994 bomb attack – told judge Palmaghini that Nisman’s death was related to their investigation and reportedly pointed to rogue elements in Argentina’s intelligence service. “[Nisman’s] death was intimately linked to the work he was doing,” Stiuso told the judge, according to an extract released by the court.
Stiuso entered the courtroom at 10am Monday, leaving only at 3am on Tuesday. He also mentioned rogue elements in the intelligence community and warned of the dangers posed by Iranian agents.
“It was shocking testimony,” said Juan Pablo Vigliero, the lawyer representing Nisman’s two teenage daughters, who was present at Monday’s hearing. “When you hear it and see it written up in the judicial file you say: Wow, how could this be?” he told reporters. “With the Iranians, it’s irrelevant whether or not you have bodyguards, because if you are a target they study you, they study and get to know your movements. Having bodyguards is pointless when these people are your enemy.”
Stiuso himself is an enigmatic figure who for decades is reputed to have commanded a vast eavesdropping network that made him the most feared man in Argentina.He joined the service in 1972 at the age of 18, slowly rising to become its most powerful agent. According to various press reports, Stiuso ran a wiretapping network that fed former president Fernández and her since-deceased husband and predecessor in office Néstor Kirchner secret information on their political opponents.Stiuso’s relationship with Fernández reportedly soured after Fernández decided to seek an understanding with Iran after almost 20 years of difficult relations and the collapse of trade between the countries following the 1994 blast that Nisman was investigating. “It was shocking testimony,” said Juan Pablo Vigliero, the lawyer representing Nisman’s two teenage daughters who was present at Monday’s hearing. “When you hear it and see it written up in the judicial file you say: Wow, how could this be?” he told reporters.
In the weeks after Nisman’s death, Fernández suggested that Nisman had been targeted by rogue agents, and announced that she would disband Argentina’s domestic and foreign spy service, the Intelligence Secretariat and replace it with a new body. But it is unlikely to convince both sides of the political divide. Stiuso himself is a controversial and enigmatic figure who for decades is reputed to have commanded a vast eavesdropping network that made him the most feared man in Argentina.
Stiuso is believed to have spent the last year in hiding in the US after Nisman’s death. He returned to Argentina 10 days ago, entering the country via the northern city of Gualeguaychú on the border with Uruguay. He joined the service in 1972 at the age of 18, slowly rising to become its most powerful agent. According to various press reports Stiuso ran a wiretapping network that fed Fernández and her since-deceased husband and predecessor in office, Néstor Kirchner, secret information on their political opponents.
Stiuso’s relationship with Fernández reportedly soured after Fernández decided to seek an understanding with Iran after almost 20 years of difficult relations following the 1994 blast that Nisman was investigating.
The spy has also come under suspicion. After Nisman’s death he initially cooperated with investigators but then fled the country and is believed to have spent most of the last year in hiding in the US. He returned to Argentina 10 days ago, entering the country via the northern city of Gualeguaychú on the border with Uruguay.
His testimony, and the shift in the jurisdiction and focus of the case, will put the spotlight back on the former president.
In the weeks after Nisman’s death, Fernández first suggested it was suicide, then said it was a deliberate attempt to sabotage her government. She said the prosecutor had been targeted by rogue agents and announced that she would disband Argentina’s domestic and foreign spy service, the Intelligence Secretariat, and replace it with a new body.
Two weeks after the first anniversary of the death and three months after a change of government, politics continues to colour the investigation. President Macri – an opponent of the previous administration – appears to support the theory that Nisman was murdered.
Addressing the first session of congress on Tuesday, Macri said: “Let’s not forget that little more than a year ago prosecutor Alberto Nisman appeared dead in circumstances that remain uncertain but that are slowly starting to clear up.”