Hemispheric securityArgentine appeals court: Nisman killed as “direct consequence” of investigation of Kirchner

An Argentine federal appeals court ruled that Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered as a “direct consequence” of his accusations of former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of covering up Iran’s role in the AMIA terror attack, The Times of Israel reported Saturday.

Nisman was investigating the ties between Tehran and the Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires, as well as a cover up by the previous Argentine government of Iran’s role in the attack. Hezbollah, the terror group backed by Iran, carried out the attack that left 85 people dead and more than 300 wounded.

The Argentine prosecutor was found dead with a gunshot to the head in January 2015, only hours before he was set to appear before a closed session of the Argentinian Congress. Before he died, Nisman drafted arrest warrants for Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman.

In its Friday ruling, the court told the lower-court judges to focus on the criminal investigation “with the speed and seriousness that such a grave fact imposes.”

In December of 2017, federal judge Julian Ercolini wrote in a 656 page ruling that the shot to the head that killed the prosecutor was not self-inflicted. The judge’s ruling also noted that Diego Lagomarsino, Nisman’s IT employee, was possibly an accessory to murder.

Nisman had accused Kirchner and other government officials of covering up Tehran’s involvement in the bombing in exchange for commercial benefits for Argentina.

There have been several reports that have ruled Nisman’s death a homicide, including a report by forensic investigators that concluded that Nisman was drugged and that at least one person forcefully held him down.

In March, it was announced that Kirchner along with eleven Kirchner officials and confidantes will face trial on charges of covering up Iran’s involvement.

This articleis published courtesy of The Tower