President of Argentina Won’t Face Charges

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/27/world/americas/president-of-argentina-wont-face-charges.html

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BUENOS AIRES — An Argentine appellate court dismissed a criminal case Thursday against President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her political supporters that accused them of conspiring to hide Iranian officials’ involvement in a bombing here in 1994.

Reiterating the harsh tone of a previous dismissal, a three-judge panel threw out the case, ruling that evidence presented by Alberto Nisman, the longtime lead investigator into the deadly attack on a Jewish community center, was too flimsy to open an investigation. Mr. Nisman made the accusations against Mrs. Kirchner in January, shortly before being found dead of a gunshot wound to the head.

Highlighting fierce debate over the case, however, one of the judges voted in favor of pursuing Mr. Nisman’s allegations.

The judges who voted to dismiss the complaint, which had been revived by a second prosecutor, Gerardo Pollicita, struck out at Mr. Nisman, saying that there were no grounds to accuse Mrs. Kirchner and that he had groped for evidence to back up his accusation of a cover-up.

“It is the presence of evidence that must drive a criminal investigation, not the inverse,” wrote Judge Jorge Ballestero. He added, “Witness stands are not stages for theater, and judicial files are not filmstrips.”

The investigation into Mr. Nisman’s death has agitated Argentina, and it has not been established whether he was killed or committed suicide. A third forensic team will start work next week to compare stark differences between the official investigation into his death and another one commissioned by Mr. Nisman’s former wife, which said he was murdered.

Mr. Nisman’s original complaint said that Mrs. Kirchner and Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman had conspired to shield Iranian officials from charges that they had planned the 1994 bombing, which left 85 people dead. He said the government had hoped for trade benefits in exchange. One judge on the panel, Eduardo Freiler, said Mr. Nisman had “capriciously chained together” extensive telephone intercepts on which he based his complaint to arrive at a predetermined conclusion.

Germán Moldes, the prosecutor who brought Mr. Nisman’s case before the appellate court, called the situation “unprecedented” but would not say Thursday in a telephone interview whether he would appeal the ruling. He has 10 working days to do so. A new prosecutor would then decide whether to bring Mr. Nisman’s case before a higher criminal court.

The decision to throw out the case represents a partial victory for the government, which has claimed Mr. Nisman was manipulated as part of a plot to destabilize Mrs. Kirchner’s government. But the split vote “sends an ambiguous message,” said Martín Böhmer, a law professor at the University of Buenos Aires.

The dissenting judge, Eduardo Farah, said that an investigation was needed to “clarify remaining unanswered questions.” Mr. Pollicita suggested dozens of investigative leads, but none of these have been pursued.

The ruling may fuel political fissures. After a silent march last month in Mr. Nisman’s honor, Mrs. Kirchner accused a group of prosecutors that includes Mr. Moldes of using the case for political gain.

Government supporters will be bolstered by the ruling, Mr. Böhmer said, while opponents may question the impartiality of the appellate court judges.