Surgeon Aníbal Lotocki celebrates 85 days in prison for the "homicide" of his patient Cristian Zárate. For him, however, it is "an exaggeration." And he appeals to an unfortunate comparison: "I'm here because of a preventive detention, I wasn't tried... It's like I suspect that you stole my lawn mower because I saw your rogue face, I'll file a complaint against you and until we settle this issue I'll put you in jail."
The 53-year-old detainee spoke from the Ezeiza prison and reignited the controversy. Regarding his multiple accusers, he warned: "Each one has to make a self-criticism and see why some issues happen to them."
Lawyer Fernando Burlando, a plaintiff in the case of Silvina Luna's death, came out to echo his statements. "He treats the justice system as if it were his operating room, a quilombo, a lack of control. It's not like that, the justice system put things in their place, or began to put things in their place, not entirely, from my point of view," he told Clarín.
And he maintained: "There you have the real delirium and the serious problem where you realize that, beyond the procedural dangers, Lotocki cannot be on the street, because he would do the same. For him, Silvina Luna's death, the injuries it caused her, are not important things, neither the injuries he caused to the girls nor the health problems he caused to all the victims."
"They're less important than a lawn mower and you realize that if it goes back on the street, it would kill again," he said.
Lawyer Fernando Burlando and, behind him, Pamela Sosa and Stefy Xipolitakis, in a march in front of Lotocki's house, in Vicente López. Photo: Federico López Claro.
Lotocki is being held in Module 1 of Pavilion B of the Ezeiza Penitentiary Complex, which is intended for prisoners with good behaviour.
According to what he said in the telephone interview with the program "Socios del Espectáculo", on Channel 13, he is "with quiet people, over 50 years old, very humanitarian, very gentle, generous", where "everyone helps who they can", since "some do not have visitors because they are from other provinces".
Pamela Sosa, Lotocki's ex and victim of his surgeries. Photo: Federico López Claro
He denies being "a VIP prisoner" and says he is surrounded by "the 50 friendliest prisoners, there is no one who has privilege over anyone, food comes for everyone the same, the cell closes at the same time."
There is a multipurpose room where he does "a little bit of gymnastics" after waking up "at 7:30 a.m.," when they "open the cell to heat water or have a coffee."
Aníbal Lotocki, when he operated on Silvina Luna.
And he says that he dedicates himself to reading and studying, in addition to writing a book where he makes his "self-criticism" for what happened to his patients, although in the interview he does not assume any "error" and blames the laboratory that manufactured an "adulterated" product, for the methacrylate that he injected them and caused serious injuries during the surgeries, or in some key cases even death. as happened to Cristian Zárate, Mariano Caprarola and Silvina Luna.
The Death of Cristian Zárate
Lotocki is imprisoned in the case for the death of Zárate (50), where he was charged with "simple homicide by eventual intentl", which provides for a sentence of between 8 and 25 years in prison.
On April 15, 2021, the man underwent a dermolipectomy (an intervention that seeks to correct skin problems and excess fat from any part of the body) at the clinic located at Colpayo 20, in Caballito. In addition, an abdominal hernia was removed. After the procedure, he was hospitalized for observation.
The patient decompensated around midnight and was able to be stabilized by the clinic staff, who had to intubate him. Lotocki arrived an hour later. While I was checking on him, Zarate died.
The businessman had grown up in a humble family in San Justo (La Matanza) and lived between Ramos Mejía and Luján, where he had bought land to build houses. He had two children from a previous marriage, who at the time of his death were 16 and 18.
Cristian Zárate, with his wife, Romina Sicoli.
Romina Sicoli, who had been his partner for five years, presented herself as a plaintiff, advised by lawyer Mariano Lizardo.
At the end of 2023, Lotocki received another setback. Chamber 3 of the National Criminal Court of Cassation in Criminal and Correctional Matters doubled his sentence (from four to eight years in prison) for "serious injuries" against four patients: Silvina Luna (who had undergone surgery in 2011 and died on August 31), her ex-partner Pamela Sosa, Gabriela Trenchi and Stefanía Xipolitakis.
That new ruling added the crime of "fraud", for which he had been acquitted in the previous resolution, and he was also disqualified from practicing medicine for 10 years.
Video
Lotocki told about the complaint made by his lawyers from the Ezeiza prison.
"It wasn't in my plans at all (to be imprisoned), I don't think it's fair, I'm here with a preventive detention, I wasn't prosecuted nor do I have any kind of conviction," said Lotocki, who was untruthful because he was sentenced in the case of the four models.
The surgeon has a new lawyer, Claudio Lifschitz, who replaced Ileana Lombardo. "What I'm saying is that it doesn't make sense for him to be imprisoned without a conviction. I think it's an exaggeration," he insisted.
Lotocki complained that he asked for a fan because "it is very hot" in the cell and he suffers from "excessive perspiration" for which he is doing "a treatment", but the Federal Penitentiary Service (SPF) denied him.
Gabriela Trenchi, one of Lotocki's victims. Photo: Luciano Thieberger.
He also remarked that he does not call those who promoted the cases against him "victims," but "whistleblowers." And he reiterated that he used for the surgeries "a product approved by the ANMAT (National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology)", so he sees "no reason at that point that I have done anything serious, nothing wrong":
"
They condemn me because of a side effect of the product. The product is altered, it doesn't have what the manufacturer says and we have made a criminal complaint. If there's someone responsible, it's not me. Here there is a state that had to control and did not control, and a manufacturer that made a product in one way and did it in another," he emphasized.
Lotocki, imprisoned.
The controversial surgeon also assured that he will not see much more time behind bars: "This is very premature, but I am not going to be here all my life."
"They think I'm guilty of Silvina Luna's death, but I was judged for the injuries, I was exonerated by the judge of the illnesses that the girls had, the product was approved. I don't feel responsible for that, and even less so now that we discovered that the product sold by the laboratory is totally altered," he said.
EMJ