Argentina, Iran and the strange death of Alberto Nisman

Silently marching through Buenos Aires in the heavy rain, the mourners remembered a father, an ex-husband, a son, a colleague.

With 400,000 people standing alongside them seeking justice for Alberto Nisman, it took the group of prosecutors, Nisman’s former wife and his daughters, mother and relatives, almost two and a half hours to walk the 10 blocks that separate the Plaza de los dos Congresos from the Plaza de Mayo.

Yet Argentinian people know that with every day that passes they are getting further from learning the truth about Nisman’s death on 18 January.

The late prosecutor had been carrying out the judicial investigation of Iran’s involvement in the attack against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association of Buenos Aires in 1994, in which 85 people died.

During a 10-year investigation, Nisman gathered phone recordings that revealed an impunity deal between the Iranian and Argentinian governments in exchange for economic benefits. Nisman’s report explained that in the midst of a reserves crisis, Iran would sell cheap oil and buy grains and weapons from Argentina.

Furthermore, in some of the calls, the activist and politician Luis D’Elía was given orders from an alleged Iranian spy, Yussuf Khalil. And it was uncovered that this representative communicated such information with Iranians including Mohsen Rabbani, one of the accused.

Nisman affirmed that these deals had been guaranteed by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and the current Argentinian minister of foreign relations, Héctor Timerman, among others.

Four days after Nisman submitted his findings, and the day before he was scheduled to testify in front of Congress about his accusations, he was found dead in his apartment.

When news of Nisman’s death broke, an official statement announced that he had committed suicide. Media financed by the government told the same story. Additionally, the accounts of officials and the police seemed to contradict each other about facts such as the time they arrived and what they said; or it emerged that they simply forget to carry out judicial expertise, which is their daily job. That is why we can say that this death smells fishy.

Now, over a month since Nisman died, the authorities have yet to determine whether his death was suicide or murder. Details of basic procedures, such as the autopsy confirming how the bullet entered his head and the toxicological result, have not been released. Yet doubts and scepticism increase each day as information trickles out.

Two of Nisman’s bodyguards have given contradictory explanations of the events that took place the night of Nisman’s death. The judge, Manuel De Campos, was prevented from entering Nisman’s apartment for 30 minutes, until the state secretary for public security arrived.

The prosecutor Viviana Fein appeared on the scene 10 minutes later, and is said to have immediately lost control of the situation. The security cameras of the building did not work properly. Two witnesses have said that inside Nisman’s apartment more than 50 people were at the scene, eating croissants and drinking mate (a typical Argentinian herbal drink). It was also alleged that any person could go through the door of the bathroom where Nisman’s body was found, and that they saw traces of blood in the hallway.

Even Fernández feels that there is something strange going on, proclaiming “the suicide (I’m convinced) was no suicide”. But Fernández’s theory damages her reputation as she could be blamed, at least, for being ineffective in controlling the services she has been managing for 12 years.

The president is yet to express her condolences to Nisman’s family, instead saying of the demonstrators: “We choose singing and happiness, and leave silence to them,” – which speaks volumes.

Slowly, a criminal case is turning into a political affair with no end in sight. And the investigation is falling to pieces, at the convenience of those who didn’t want Nisman around.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/20/argentina-iran-alberto-nisman-prosecutor-death