Argentina president accused of cover-up in terrorist attack News
Argentina president accused of cover-up in terrorist attack

[JURIST] An Argentinian federal prosecutor on Wednesday accused Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, of being involved in covering up Iran’s involvement in a 1994 terrorist attack. The bombing of the Argentinian Jewish Mutual Association is said to have been one of the country’s worst attacks, resulting in 85 deaths. The prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, requested [Reuters report] that Judge Ariel Lijo interrogate the president and the foreign minister for “being authors and accomplices of an aggravated cover-up and obstruction of justice regarding the Iranians accused of the Amia terrorist attack,” and seizing 200 million pesos worth of assets. The prosecutor cited phone tap recordings that show how the current administration negotiated with the Iranian government to cover up Iranian officials involvement in return for the establishment of a trade of grain for oil that would ameliorate Argentina’s energy deficit.

An appeals court in Argentina ruled in May that a controversial agreement between Argentina and Iran to investigate the 1994 bombing was unconstitutional [JURIST report]. The two nations signed the agreement [JURIST report] in January 2013, which permitted Argentinian authorities to question the Iranian suspects under Interpol arrest warrants, but only in Tehran. The agreement also angered Jewish groups who said that the deal empowered Iran without bringing any suspects to justice. No one has been convicted in connection with the bombing, which killed 85 people and injured more than 300 others.