07/28/2020 - 10:19
- Clarín.com
- Politics
The federal judge of Lomas de Zamora Juan Pablo Augé granted the release to prison to Susana Martinengo, former director of the Presidential Documentation area, investigated in the case of alleged illegal espionage during the government of Mauricio Macri.
Martinengo was arrested weeks ago by order of federal judge Federico Villena along with twenty other people, after verifying that she had had meetings with some of the spies investigated at Casa Rosada between mid-2018 and early 2019.
The coordinator of the presidential documentation had declared at the beginning of July and, after the change of hands in the case, Augé granted him house arrest.
Now the magistrate granted his release, concluding that there are no procedural risks or obstacles to the investigation .
"The elements are not gathered that allow to presume in a founded way that Susana Mabel Martinengo will try to avoid the actions of justice or hinder the investigation," Augé concluded in his resolution.
However, he was prohibited from leaving the country and withheld his passport until his procedural situation is resolved.
In her presentation, the former macrista official denied that there was an illegal espionage plan . Her situation, however, had been compromised after the judge showed her evidence that incriminates her in her relationship with several detained spies of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI).
The suspicion is that Martinengo received data on the espionage tasks carried out by the other accused, and that it came into the hands of the then President Mauricio Macri since one of the spies had said that the information they had could be of interest "to the one".
Last week, Augé had also released lawyer Facundo Melo and former Buenos Aires City police officer Leandro César Araque, also charged in the case.
In total there were 22 arrests in the investigation.
JPE
