ARGENTINA/FILE: A lawyer representing one of five Argentine men accused of sexual assaulting and murdering two French tourists insists his client is innocent a day before the trial gets underway in Salta

Record ID: 194471

  • Title: ARGENTINA/FILE: A lawyer representing one of five Argentine men accused of sexual assaulting and murdering two French tourists insists his client is innocent a day before the trial gets underway in Salta
  • Date: 24th March 2014
  • Summary: SALTA, ARGENTINA (MARCH 24, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ENTRANCE TO THE SAN LORENZO NATURE PRESERVE VARIOUS OF MONUMENT KNOWN AS "THE ANGELS OF SALTA," DEDICATED TO TWO FRENCH TOURISTS WHOSE BODIES WERE FOUND NEARBY VARIOUS OF PLAQUES DEDICATED TO THE FRENCH MURDER VICTIMS CASSANDRE BOUVIER AND HOURIA MOUMNI VARIOUS OF MARCELO ARANCIBIA, DEFENCE LAWYER REPRESENTING ONE OF
  • Embargoed: 8th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Reuters ID: LVAE1N1K780WUG5LAO4NCWNUJYSJ
  • Story Text: The lawyer of one of five men accused of sexually assaulting and killing two French tourists in Argentina insists his client is innocent the day before the trial for the crime that sent shockwaves through France and Argentina begins.
    The trial of the five Argentine men is set to begin on Tuesday (March 25), nearly three years after the bodies of French tourists Cassandre Bouvier and Houria Moumni, 29 and 24-years-old respectively at the time, were found beaten, stripped and shot to death on on July 29, 2011.
    The young women were hiking in the San Lorenzo nature preserve overlooking the city of Salta in the northwestern province of the same name when they went missing on July 15, 2011.
    A monument known as "the two angels" has been erected in their memory not far from where their bodies were found.
    Three men, Gustavo Orlando Lasi, 25; Daniel Octavio Eduardo Vilte Laxi, 24; and Santos Clemente Vera, 38, face charges of double homicide, aggravated sexual assault and robbery.
    The other two defendants, 48-year-old Omar Dario Ramos and Antonio Eduardo Sandoval have been charged with aiding in concealing a crime.
    The defence attorney representing Vilte, Marcelo Arancibia, told Reuters on Monday (March 24) that his client was only implicated in the case as the result of what he says was a mediocre police investigation.
    Arancibia said errors in the investigation have led even Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to disseminate the "untruths" it uncovered.

    "This case is the result of an abysmal investigation. This abysmal investigation has led to the government of the province of Salta to lie, or what you could call 'not have the truth.' I think there is too much to it to say it in just the word, 'to lie' to the President of Argentina. And Mrs. (Cristina) Fernandez de Kirchner went on to not say the truth to then French President (Nicolas) Sarkozy and the family (of the victims) and the French people and to make a mockery saying the investigation was complete, that there was nothing more to do than to get a second conviction as far as Vilte and Vera. What we will show is the result of a political moment aimed at showing the truth, which I reiterate, is absolutely true," Arancibia said.
    Cassandre Bouvier's father, Jean-Michael Bouvier who was in Salta, has also said there are still questions surrounding the deaths of his daughter and her friend that he hopes will be answered during the trial.
    Arancibia pinned the blame on Lasi saying he is concealing the truth that only he knows.

    "It was important to give the version of a sinister liar named Gustavo Lasi as the truth. Only he knows, and because of the bad investigation they did, he is still the only one who knows who is truly responsible and who he is covering for and why," Arancibia said.
    With family members of the victims arriving to Salta for the trial there is mounting evidence against the accused.
    Lasi admitted to investigators that he raped one of the girls, but indicated he was egged on by Vera and Vilte, who Arancibia denies was there.
    Investigators found DNA samples of Lasi and Vera on the bodies of the victims.
    Arancibia said the truth will come to light during the trial which is expected to last until mid-May and will hear testimony from some 200 people.

    "I can say to the families of the French women that first, at one point I said to my defendant, 'look, Vilte, one of your best allies is going to be the truth and the other is going to be the French people because they are not stupid. They will see. They will study and analyse everything," Arancibia added.
    Family members of the two victims have been highly involved in the international case travelling to Argentina to meet with investigators and collect the bodies of their lost loved ones.
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