Argentina’s Jews rage against prosecutor’s mystery death
Argentina’s Jewish community has expressed outrage at the presumed murder of a federal prosecutor who had accused the country’s leadership of protecting Iranian agents suspected of blowing up a Jewish centre 20 years ago (pictured, left).
Alberto Nisman, who spent a decade investigating the 1994 attack, was found dead at his home on Sunday, despite being protected by 10 police officers. He was found on the floor of his bathroom beside a gun, with no suicide note.
It comes just days before he was due to testify against top officials, and only a week after he filed a criminal complaint against the president and foreign minister.
Nisman was originally appointed by President Christina Fernández de Kirchner’s late husband Nestor, who was president at the time.
His brief was told to investigate the targeting of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association in Buenos Aires.
Both he and the country’s Jewish community strongly opposed a later deal, struck between Christina and the Iranian government, to jointly investigate the bombing, which killed 85 people and wounded over 200 others, and to-date remains unsolved.
Nisman accused Mrs. Kirchner (pictured, right) of ordering secret negotiators and offers “from the shadows,” guaranteeing immunity for former Iranian officials in exchange for Iranian oil, to ease Argentina’s huge energy deficit.
In the complaint filed last week, Nisman said he had evidence of this, in the form of bugged phonecalls.
Rabbi Sergio Bergman, a congressman, tweeted that Nisman had become “victim 86 of the AMIA attack,” as opposition figures called for an immediate investigation.
Julio Schlosser, leader of the country’s Jewish community, said it was a “disastrous day of mourning, of consternation.” He added: “It’s a catastrophe. I hope the prosecutor finds peace, which he never found with us.”
Leonardo Jmlenitsky, president of AMIA, said: “It’s very difficult to find somebody that has as much knowledge of the case as he, somebody who can take it forward.”
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