Argentine Leader Criticizes Dead Official By JONATHAN GILBERT and SIMON ROMERO JAN. 20, 2015 BUENOS AIRES — Facing a public outcry over the mysterious death of Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor leading the investigation into the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center here, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her allies lashed out at the dead man on Tuesday, questioning whether he had allied himself with forces seeking to weaken her government. In a rambling 2,100-word letter posted on her Facebook page, Mrs. Kirchner, whom Mr. Nisman had accused of orchestrating a cover-up to protect Iranian officials implicated in the bombing in exchange for Iranian oil, said that Mr. Nisman had been part of an effort to “sidetrack, lie, cover up and confuse” attempts to finally resolve the case. The attacks on Mr. Nisman after his death, including assertions in the state-controlled news media that he had been manipulated by Antonio Stiusso, a former intelligence official ousted last month by Mrs. Kirchner, raised questions here on whether her government was supporting efforts to determine the cause of his death. “Instead of offering a position on the institutional turbulence and protests, the presidency put itself in the role of detective,” said Carlos Pagni, a columnist for the newspaper La Nación, questioning why Mrs. Kirchner would scrutinize Mr. Nisman’s travel itinerary and refer to newspaper headlines critical of her. Mrs. Kirchner did not elaborate on why she had referred in her letter to Mr. Nisman’s death as a suicide, an assessment echoed by her top aides and political supporters. Some of Mrs. Kirchner’s opponents say Mr. Nisman, 51, might have been murdered at his apartment on Sunday. He was to testify before Congress on Monday about his findings. He had accused senior Iranian officials of plotting the 1994 bombing and Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese ally, of carrying it out. He charged that Mrs. Kirchner and her foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, had later promised to absolve former Iranian officials accused of masterminding the attack, which killed 85 people, as part of efforts to obtain Iranian oil to ease Argentina’s energy shortage. The prosecutor investigating Mr. Nisman’s death, the latest twist in the long inquiry into the bombing, said on Tuesday that no traces of gunpowder residue had been detected on his fingers, bolstering suspicions among some here that he had been killed by someone else. But the prosecutor, Viviana Fein, emphasized that she had been told that the barrel of a .22-caliber Bersa pistol, which was found next to Mr. Nisman’s body, was probably too small to leave residue. The authorities said it had been borrowed from a friend. International ballistics experts agreed that, unlike a revolver, the Bursa might not have left traces of gunpowder. “For investigative purposes, this might raise a flag, but you cannot conclusively say he didn’t fire the gun,” said Ronald L. Singer, a forensic scientist and the technical and administrative director of the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office in Fort Worth. The presence of the security minister, Sergio Berni, at Mr. Nisman’s apartment after the body was discovered in a bathroom on Sunday night has also raised questions about possible government interference. Mr. Berni said in a television interview on Tuesday evening that he had not entered the bathroom and had made efforts to protect evidence. Ms. Fein said she would examine Mr. Nisman’s telephone records and possible threats against him, and whether he had any psychological problems. As her investigation continued, the government authorities suggested that Mr. Nisman’s death had been a result of an elaborate plot, perhaps involving vengeful former intelligence officials and the Clarín Group, a news organization critical of Mrs. Kirchner. Jorge Capitanich, Mrs. Kirchner’s cabinet chief, said investigators needed to verify whether Mr. Nisman had received threats from “current, displaced or foreign” intelligence agents. In a statement, the Clarín Group rejected any connection to Mr. Nisman’s findings or his death, calling such positions “conspiracy theories.” Correction: January 20, 2015 Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misspelled the brand name of the pistol that was found near Mr. Nisman’s body. It was a Bersa, not a Bursa. FUENTE: The New York Times
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 15:21:52 +0000