An Argentine prosecutor who accused president Cristina Kirchner of obstructing a probe into the 1994 Jewish centre bombing has been found shot dead, just hours before he was due to testify at a congressional hearing.
Alberto Nisman, 51, was found overnight in his apartment in the trendy Puerto Madero neighbourhood of the capital Buenos Aires.
Since 2004, he had been investigating the 1994 van bombing of the building of the Argentine Jewish Charities Federation, or AMIA.
Eighty-five people were killed and 300 others injured in Argentina’s worst attack of its kind.
“I can confirm that a .22-caliber handgun was found beside the body,” prosecutor Viviana Fein said.
“Death is due to gunshot.”
Authorities said Mr Nisman had been found by his mother in the bathroom of his 13th-floor apartment after his security detail was unable to contact him.
Last week, Mr Nisman asked for an investigation into possible obstruction by president Kirchner and was due to speak at a congressional hearing on Monday to provide evidence of his assertions.
Opposition lawmaker Patricia Bullrich said she was shocked by Mr Nisman’s death, calling it “a grave affront to the country’s institutions”.
She said she had spoken to him on the phone on Saturday on three occasions and he said that he had received several threats.
Ms Bullrich added that parliament would meet to discuss the killing.
Grain-for-oil deal saw Argentina protect suspects: prosecutor
Mr Nisman accused Iran of being behind the bombing and said Ms Kirchner had hampered the enquiry to curry favour with the Islamic republic.
He said the president had opened a secret back channel to a group of Iranians suspected of planting the bomb.
Mr Nisman said the scheme intended to clear the suspects, so Argentina could start swapping grains for much-needed oil from Iran, which denies any connection with the bombing.
The Argentine government also categorically denied the accusations.
Since 2006, Argentine courts have demanded the extradition of eight Iranians, including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former defence minister Ahmad Vahidi and Mohsen Rabbani, Iran’s former cultural attaché in Buenos Aires.
Argentina charges that Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite movement, carried out the attack under orders from Iran, which Tehran denies.
Mr Nisman said he had phone recordings that showed the Kirchner government and Argentine authorities had bowed to Iranian demands, after the Islamic republic dangled lucrative commercial contracts.
He was supposed to present proof of his allegations that Ms Kirchner and foreign minister Hector Timerman had a “plan of impunity” to “protect the Iranian fugitives”.
Jewish community members had cautiously welcomed Mr Nisman’s complaint, but also requested he make public the evidence to back up his assertions.
The Jewish centre bombing came two years after an attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires which killed 29 people.
In January 2014, Argentina accused Israel of concealing information about the attacks, after a former Israeli ambassador to Argentina suggested that those responsible had been killed by Israeli security forces.
Argentina’s Jewish population of about 300,000 people is the largest in Latin America.
Cristina Kirchner”Cristinakirchnermensaje2010″ by Mensaje_de_fin_de_año_de_la_Presidenta.jpg: Víctor Buggederivative work: Maximus0970 (talk) – Mensaje_de_fin_de_año_de_la_Presidenta.jpg. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cristinakirchnermensaje2010.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Cristinakirchnermensaje2010.jpg
There is a term for this: suicided (murder made to look like a suicide). The man was suicided like so many before him who wanted to expose the truth about the corrupted power elite. I lived in Argentina for a while and corruption is unbelievable there, and that #$%$ of a woman is among the worst. She has lined her pockets for years at the expense of the Argentine economy.
How many of you know that her husband was president before her? All of the Hillary comments I see are more on point than people might realize.
Yeah, right, a ” suicide “.
There is a city called Ciudad Del Este in Argentina that also borders Brazil & Paraguay, this city is controlled by hundreds & hundreds of Muslim businesses & they’re also the majority of the pop. Those Muslim businesses are KNOWN to every Inte’l org. in the world as one of the major finance hubs in the world for terror grps. Yet, Argentina, Brazil & Paraguay are “reluctant” to act against this financing of terror grps. because these Muslim merchants pay off politicians in a big way.
I wonder why the US, Europe don’t put pressure on theses 3 countries to act, but especially on Argentina since it is an Argentinian territory.