The father of one of the two
French tourists murdered in Salta
in July 2011, traveled to that province and met with one of the convicts whom the Supreme Court of Justice released last December due to lack of evidence.
In this context, he was also received by Governor Gustavo Sáenz and asked him to reopen the case for the death of his daughter and friend.
"When we are with an honest man, as I think
Clemente Vera
is , we cannot admit an injustice, even less against a person for whom there is no evidence of guilt against him," said
Jean Michel Bouvier,
father of Cassandre Bouvier. .
Then, he maintained: "My daughter did not tolerate injustice in her life and the totally arbitrary sentence of the Court of Appeal and the non-revocation of the sentence by the Court of Justice of the province was a total injustice."
"This injustice against Clemente Vera was at the same time an injustice against my daughter Cassandre. One more injustice," he said, and declared: "That is why I fought for Clemente's release."
Cassandre's father - who was found dead next to Houria Moumni on July 29, 2011, at the Mirador de la Quebrada de San Lorenzo - arrived in Salta and was received at the "Martín Miguel de Güemes" international airport by Vera ;
his lawyer, José Vargas;
and former national senator Sonia Escudero, among others.
Vera and Bouvier met again at the Salta airport.
Photo Telam
Upon arrival, Bouvier entered into a strong and long hug with Vera, and they thus staged an emotional reunion, since they had not seen each other since 2018.
In addition, it was the first time they had seen each other since the man was released last December, following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.
During the meeting, Bouvier asked Vera to have "strength" and "courage", because "the fight continues", and assured her: "we are going to win."
Furthermore, the young woman's father assured that he feels at home in Salta and expressed that, although Cassandre's body is in France, "his beautiful soul remains here."
After his arrival in the provincial capital, Bouvier maintained brief contact with local journalists and went to the Government House, where
he was received by Governor Gustavo Sáenz
, who published on his social networks about him: "A person of great integrity and a "father who transformed his pain into a fight for the search for truth. Always respectful of the values of democracy and justice."
During his talk with journalists, Bouvier does not know who is responsible for the double crime and that the only way to find out is with the
"reopening of the investigation."
"Those who murdered Cassandre and Houria are femicides," said Bouvier, and specified that, being faced with a complex case, in which there were serious issues such as torture and planted evidence, "it will be essential to reopen the case with Franco-Argentine international cooperation." .
Bouvier announced that he will return in July, for the anniversary of the discovery of the bodies of the two victims.
He also announced that he will return in July, for the anniversary of the discovery of the bodies of the two victims.
"I'm going to go to the monument (in honor of the two young women), even with my precarious state of health, and I'm going to see if the case moves or not. If I find that the judicial investigation is not moving, I'm going to let you know." to the governor that from France I am going to drop an atomic bomb and
I am going to make a number of complaints against identified people
, for obstruction of justice," he concluded.
For her part, Vera expressed that "it is a joy" to be able to see Bouvier, and added: "he gives us a lot of strength to me and my family."
"I am happy, this hug was very emotional. His strength helped me stay on my feet and I am very grateful for everything he fought for my innocence," he said.
The bodies of Cassandre Bouvier and Houria Moumni were found on July 29, 2011 in the Quebrada de San Lorenzo, 15 kilometers from the center of the capital of that province, with signs of having been
beaten, abused and shot to death
.
The young women had been last seen alive on July 15, when they went to tour the tourist circuit and their bodies were found two weeks later, near the main path of El Mirador.
Forensic experts determined that both tourists had been sexually abused and killed with one shot each with a 22-caliber Bataan shotgun.
Vera was a baqueano in the San Lorenzo area and when the bodies of the French tourists were found, he offered to guide the police to the place of discovery, but later, Gustavo Lasi confessed that he himself committed the act, although he involved Vera already. Daniel Vilte Laxi, who he said forced him and threatened him with weapons so that he would kill them.
For the crimes of Bouvier and Moumni, Chamber II of the Salta Trial Court unanimously sentenced Lasi, on June 2, 2014, to 30 years in prison as the author of "
robbery qualified by the use of a weapon, abuse sexual intercourse with aggravated carnal access, and qualified double homicide criminis causa"
.
The court also sentenced
Omar Darío Ramos and Antonio Eduardo Sandoval
to two years of suspended prison for qualified concealment, while Vilte and Vera - who had already been detained for three years - were acquitted for the benefit of the doubt and were on freedom.
However, on February 3, 2016, Chamber III of the Court of Appeal of Salta revoked the acquittal sentence handed down to Vera and sentenced him to life imprisonment, considering him co-author of the same crimes as Lasi, so the defense resorted to Provincial Court, which did not allow the appeal.
Meanwhile, the organization
Innocence Project
- created in the United States and whose purpose is to reverse convictions of innocent people - began sponsoring Vera since 2017 and processed the complaint against the denial of the extraordinary appeal decided by the Court of Justice of Salta in that year.
In that appeal presented almost seven years ago, Vera's defense requested that a new trial be ordered because it was not heard by the court of second instance and because it was considered that there were irregularities in the genetic test on which the judges based the trial. They condemned him.
Finally, on December 7 of last year, the National Court accepted the defense's proposal and ordered that "a new ruling be issued," and a few days later Vera was released after spending a total of 11 years in prison for this fact. and is awaiting a new trial to define his situation.
During his stay in Salta, Bouvier is also scheduled to meet with the Minister of Security and Justice, Marcelo Domínguez;
with the Attorney General of the Province, Pedro García Castiella;
with the national representative Emilia Orozco;
with councilor José Gauffin, who promoted the impeachment trial against the judges of the Court of Appeal who convicted Vera;
and with deputies members of the Justice Commission and fight against violence against women.
MG