Despite Prosecutor's Mysterious Death, Argentina's President Faces Charges Over Alleged Terrorist Attack Cover-Up
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner in Buenos Aires, May 16, 2013, photo by Filippo Fiorini, Demotix.
The mysterious demise of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead on his bathroom floor last month, won't spare Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner from damning criminal charges. Gerardo Pollicita, another federal prosecutor, backed Nisman's earlier criminal complaint, asking a judge to revive his original complaint that Kirchner and Argentina's foreign minister, Hector Timerman, interfered with the investigation into the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires and then helped to cover up Iranian involvement.
When the public learned that Pollicita has picked up where Nisman left off and asked a judge to renew the charges against Kirchner and Timerman, his surname became a trending topic on Twitter, where users discussed the move, expressing fears for Pollicita's life. Echoing Kirchner's cabinet chief, others have protested the charges against the president, tweeting the hashtag “#GolpismoJudicialActivo” (#ActiveLegalCoup) and #TodosConCristina (#EveryoneWithCristina):
No se pero vayan protegiendo a toda costa al fiscal Pollicita… no vaya ser que se “suicide” otra vez…
— Exe Santander (@ExeSanta) February 13, 2015
Este finde largo misteriosamente Pollicita entra al baño a cagar, resbala, y cae sobre una bala…
— Mr. H (@misery_cordia) February 13, 2015
La denuncia de Nisman sin delito y la actuación del fiscal Pollicita y de los medios hegemónicos solo es #GolpismoJudicialActivo
— Eva (@MoreiraEva) February 13, 2015
Nisman's complaint without crime and prosecutor Pollicita performance and mainstream media is only #ActiveLegalCoup
#TodosConCristina a la cárcel
— Luciana Sabina (@kalipolis) February 14, 2015
#EveryoneWithCristina to jail
Lo que pasa es que CFK es un sentimiento. La gente se enamora de ella. No soy yo, somos millones. #todosconcristina @mariufrancisco — Honesto Nestor (@honestonestor) February 14, 2015
What happens is that CFK [Cristina Fernández de Kirchner] is a feeling: people fall in love with her. It's not just me—we are millions.
The renewed allegations against Argentina's top officials come just a few days before a mass vigil planned on February 18 by prosecutors from different parts of the country and employees from the country's judiciary offices. The event, called the “March of Silence,” marks the passage of one month since Nisman's death, commemorating his public service and calling attention to the Attorney General's office. Using videos like the one below, as well as Twitter hashtags, Internet users have worked to spread the word about the February 18 demonstration.
