The trial against
José Alperovich
, the businessman, former senator and three-time governor of
Tucumán
, accused of
various acts of sexual abuse by his niece and employee
, will begin this Monday in the Courts of the city of Buenos Aires, where the testimony of more is expected. of
eighty witnesses
.
Alperovich must answer for
three cases of sexual abuse
, two of them attempted, and
six cases of sexual violence aggravated by carnal access
, in accordance with what was established by the judicial investigation based on complaints about the attacks that occurred between 2017 and 2018, in the city of Buenos Aires and in the province of Tucumán.
In September 2023, the National Criminal and Correctional Court 35 of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires elevated the case against the former governor of Tucumán to an oral trial and established February 5 as the start date of the debate that will be public.
The file began when the young woman reported the events at the end of 2019, while she was working as Alperovich's assistant in the Senate of the Nation, from where the man from Tucumán was removed: he took leave and some time later was suspended.
The complainant indicated that the abuses and attacks occurred
in Tucumán and
in an apartment in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of
Puerto Madero
.
The trial will take place in the Oral Criminal Court 29, led by the controversial
judge José María Ramos Padilla
, - a magistrate who does not hide his Kirchnerist predilection - and more than 80 witnesses are expected to testify.
Video
The license of the former governor of Tucumán expires.
The National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office 10 of the Federal Capital intervened in the investigation, temporarily headed by prosecutor Santiago Vismara, and the Specialized Prosecutor's Unit for Violence against Women (UFEM), directed by Mariela Labozzetta.
The strong complaint against Alperovich and the warning by Mariano Cúneo Libarona
In May 2022, the prosecution had considered that "in all cases, mediating
intimidation for his commission
", the former senator "abused a relationship of dependency, power and authority."
"It was proven how the accused, using his physical force, exercising intimidating abuse of power and gender violence, reduced the victim under his control, and made her a mere object of sexual satisfaction, of objectification, subjecting her in a violent, outrageous and degrading, doing so over the course of a little more than three months," said the prosecutor.
Video
The text that marked the beginning of the end
Meanwhile, days later, Judge Osvaldo Rappa prosecuted Alperovich for the reported crimes and considered that they were committed "through abuse of power and authority."
Rappa highlighted in his indictment that the victim suffered "outrageous sexual submission."
"It is enough to simply say that the person for whom he worked was not a stranger to the victim, but
a public person with political power
that he held in the province of Tucumán after having been governor for three consecutive terms and a member of his family, even if it was far away," the judge added.
Video
José Alperovich's wife, Beatriz Rojkés, defended her husband after being prosecuted for alleged "aggravated sexual abuse with carnal access" on different occasions against his niece and former collaborator between 2017 and 2018.
In his investigation before the magistrate,
Alperovich denied having abused his niece
and did not accept questions, according to judicial sources.
For their part, feminist organizations expressed their support for the "complainant who managed to reach this instance after having waited for 5 years for answers from the Judiciary."
"We remain alert to possible attacks and revictimization by the accused through his defense or the use of the media to advance the physical and mental integrity of the complainant," added the statement released through social networks.
Video
The license of the former president of Tucumán expires and it is not known if he will return to the Senate.
Among other things, they demanded that the Judiciary "act with due diligence in cases of gender violence, thus avoiding the constant re-victimization of this brave young woman."
And, they declared themselves "on alert and mobilization for any maneuver of impunity while the current Minister of Justice of the Nation,
Mariano Cúneo Libarona
, until a few months ago
was his lawyer
and today the defense (of Alperovich) continues in charge of his study legal".
In principle, the case was processed in two jurisdictions: in the criminal and correctional jurisdiction of the City of Buenos Aires and in the Tucumán justice system.
But after a resolution of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation in May of last year, it was resolved that all the facts should be investigated in the National Criminal and Correctional Court 35 of the City of Buenos Aires, in accordance with what was stated in his opinion by the acting Attorney General,
Eduardo Casal
.
In this way, Judge Rappa continued investigating with the contribution of prosecutors Santiago Vismara and Mariela Labozzetta in charge of the Specialized Prosecutor's Unit for Violence against Women.
With information from the Télam Agency
D.S.