Alejandro Alfie
07/27/2020 - 21:55
- Clarín.com
- Politics
Prosecutors Cecilia Incardona and Santiago Eyherabide, who are pursuing the case for illegal espionage at the Instituto Patria and at the home of Cristina Kirchner, asked Judge Juan Pablo Augé to prosecute Gustavo Arribas and Silvia Majdalani, the head and number two of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) during the government of Mauricio Macri. They also asked to prosecute the former AFI chief of counterintelligence, Martín Coste. And the former head of Special Operations of Counterintelligence of the official body, Alan Ruiz, who coordinated the operations, was previously processed.
Judge Augé has until August 4 to resolve the procedural situation of Arribas, Majdalani and Coste. If he accepts Incardona and Eyherabide's request there could be a turn in the cause, which had previously focused on the agents who were in charge of Alan Ruiz, but had not followed the leads towards the officials who led the official intelligence apparatus between 2015 and 2019. This judicial orientation could even lead the investigation towards former President Mauricio Macri.
It is that the prosecutors maintained that those who spied on Cristina Kirchner "would have executed orders received from Silvia Majdalani"; And then she, along with Arribas, tried to hide these illegal espionage tasks.
In the judicial file, Judge Augé assured that the AFI agents "had to observe and watch in the places indicated by Alan Ruiz, in order to detect if things were taken or removed, if there were changes, if bags, rucksacks were transported , documentation and / or money, as well as whether those two homes received such objects or carried out these activities. "
"In other words, such tasks were never intended to detect possible attacks or threats against the victim, nor were they carried out within the framework of prevention tasks by the events called G 20 and the Youth Olympic Games," Augé said in the file. . And he added that the protection function of a former president is not the responsibility of the AFI, since it is a "police task" that should be coordinated with the "agents who were guarding her."
The cause for which the processing of Arribas, Majdalani and Coste was requested was initiated by a complaint by the AFI intervener, Cristina Caamano, before Judge Federico Villena, in Lomas de Zamora. But then Judge Augé was referred, because it was precisely Villena who had authorized espionage tasks on the Patria Institute and the home of the current vice president.
The Federal Chamber of La Plata separated Judge Villena from the case for illegal espionage of politicians, trade unionists and journalists, where there are 23 accused, referring it to Judge Augé, who already had the espionage of the Patria Institute. Both cases are now held by Augé, who delegated the investigation to prosecutors Incardona and Eyherabide.
According to leaders who participated in the management of Cambiemos in the area of Justice, who promoted the arrival of Villena in the Lomas de Zamora court was Majdalani herself. Therefore, Villena preferred to leave her out of this file, despite the fact that several former spies stated that Ruiz y Coste reported directly to Majdalani.
If Judge Augé accepts the request of the prosecutors and prosecutes Majdalani and Arribas, the case could be strengthened, since until now the former heads of the Macrista AFI have not been implicated by the Justice as suspects of illegal espionage.
Arribas' lawyers consider that these facts had already been tried by Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi, in 2018, who resolved his dismissal - and Majdalan's - for non-crime. That is why they asked that the case be processed in Comodoro Py, since the events occurred in the city of Buenos Aires.
The Federal Chamber raffled that cause and it was left to the judge María Eugenia Capuchetti, who decided to certify it, as requested by the prosecutor Carlos Stornelli. This means that the judge will analyze whether it is appropriate to request that the case return to Comodoro Py or continue to be substantiated in Lomas de Zamora.
While that is being clarified, Judge Augé gives maximum speed to the case, with the aim of resolving the procedural situation of the ex-bosses of the Macrist AFI and Martín Coste, as he did with the former director of Operations, Alan Ruiz .
