ARGENTINA-ATTACK/HEARING Family of victims accuse Argentine officials of failing to act on information ahead of 1994 Jewish community center explosion

Record ID: 145028

  • Title: ARGENTINA-ATTACK/HEARING Family of victims accuse Argentine officials of failing to act on information ahead of 1994 Jewish community center explosion
  • Date: 6th August 2015
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (FILE) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF MENEM IN COURT
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAC72440JQ6YLGIWHT6XMARF1CK
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    As a dozen Argentine officials, including former President Carlos Menem, prepare to face trial on allegations of conspiring to derail investigations into a deadly 1994 Jewish community centre bombing, victims' relatives accuse authorities of knowing that an attack was going to occur and failing to act to prevent it.
    Investigations into the attack in which an explosives-laden truck exploded outside the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) building, killing 85, have advanced little in two decades. No suspect has ever been detained or taken to court.
    But 21 years later, Menem and other Argentine officials including his intelligence chief and a former federal judge, are due in court on Thursday (August 06) on a host of related charges including obstruction of justice and destroying evidence in the case.
    Active Memory, a group that represents relatives and friends of victims, called a news conference in Buenos Aires on the eve of the controversial trial. The group's lawyer, Alejandro Rua, accused authorities of playing lip service to an Argentine public calling for justice.
    "Only when political will at the highest level made the decision that this should comes to light and that all truth be known, did the discovery of a false solution to the case come out because, from my understanding, it encompasses what is going to be presented at trial tomorrow: the decision of authorities at the time to use state policy to present a false solution in the case so as to meet the demands for justice from society and, as it explicitly said, to attend to the dark interests of unscrupulous leaders," he said.
    Regarding AMIA, Menem stands accused of pushing investigators during his presidency to ignore the so-called "Syrian clue" linking Alberto Kanoore Edul to the attacks. Both Edul and Menem are of Syrian origin and their families have long been reported to have ties.
    Diana Malamud lost her husband in the blast. She told media that authorities knew the attack was coming and did not act.
    "Evidently it was known that the attack was coming. Many people knew that this would happen and it happened anyway, nobody tried to stop it. Since no one tried to stop it, probably afterwards they had to cover up that there was prior knowledge or that something went wrong, which is one of the hypothesis we're working with. It's a horrible pain to think someone knew this and did not try to avoid it," she said.
    Menem has denied the charges against him. Some 140 witnesses are expected to provide testimony, according to local media.
    The former president already has a criminal record after being found guilty for illegally selling arms to Croatia and Ecuador while he was president. As he is currently in office, Menem has immunity from serving prison time for the smuggling conviction.
    The charges in the case are being pursued by the government of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez in its closing days before Argentina heads to the polls to pick a new leader in October.
    Earlier this year, an Argentine prosecutor decided to not pursue the case originally brought forward by prosecutor Alberto Nisman who claimed that Fernandez herself has tried to whitewash Iran's purported involvement in the blast at the AMIA Jewish Community Centre.
    Nisman, who had investigated the case for years, was found dead in his apartment in January with a gunshot wound to the head one day before he was due to testify about his accusation that Fernandez tried to whitewash Iran's alleged role in the bombing.
    Iran, for its part, has denied having any involvement in the blast.
    Having died under mysterious circumstances, Nisman is as much at the centre of controversy now as when he was alive. The government claims that Nisman was manipulated by rogue spies into levelling the accusation as a way of smearing Fernandez's administration. His death is still being investigated.
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