The judicial decision was expected, while the former President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019, center right) had, in recent weeks, failed to summons the justice. He was finally indicted, Wednesday 1er December, for alleged abuse of authority and espionage of families and relatives of the crew of the submarine San-Juan, whose sinking killed 44 people. The ship had disappeared in November 2017 off the Argentine coast. Found over 900 meters deep in November 2018, his remains could never be refloated, despite the wishes of the families of the victims.
The 62-year-old former head of state presented his statement in writing on November 3. He is being sued for “Making possible illegal intelligence tasks, creating the conditions for data on individuals to be collected, stored and used”, according to the document of more than 170 pages detailing the judicial decision, disclosed in the Argentinian press.
The reasons for these eavesdropping and taking information, according to justice: ” [Chercher] to influence the political and institutional situation of the country, punctually in connection with the requests that [les familles] concerning the sinking of the submarine and, consequently, the death of their relatives. “ From “Illegal intelligence tasks, which were not based on legal authorization”.
“First step in a long struggle”
In November 2017, Argentina had held its breath after the news of the disappearance of the submarine San-Juan. The country’s media had remained suspended for months to national and international research, punctuated by pleas from the families of the sailors, who demanded an effective search. Without any trace of the ship for a year, the relatives of the victims have indeed widely mobilized to demand the continuation of research and the truth about its disappearance – the navy evoked the hypothesis of an explosion.
“This is the first step in a long struggle against very powerful people”, says Luis Tagliapietra, father of a missing sailor and lawyer for families of victims. At the end of 2017 and “At least all year 2018”, he and other families knew each other “Listened to”. “We spotted people infiltrated within families who pretended to be relatives of victims, but also hacks of our e-mail addresses, spinning mills and we were being photographed”, he reports. However, families still want “Know the truth” on the reasons for the accident. “It’s been four years since it took place and this other file, that of the causes of the sinking, the most important for us, is at a standstill”, denounces the lawyer.
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