‘March of silence’ and other Nisman-related events have major political implications
Two events in the past week have marked a watershed in the repercussions of the still unsolved death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who had drawn up criminal charges against President Cristina Fernández, foreign relations minister Héctor Timerman and others. On one side is the strictly legal arena, where two separate developments are taking place: the furtherance of Nisman’s charges and the investigation of Nisman’s death. On the other side is the laterally connected political arena, where the survival of kirchnerismo will be played out in the run-up to the October presidential elections.
The first of those decisive events was the 13 February decision by federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita, who took over Nisman’s work, to file indict- ments against the same people targeted by Nisman for aggravated concealment (encubrimiento) and impeding or interfering with the fulfil- ment of the duties of public officials. It is now up to federal judge Daniel Rafecas, designated to take charge of this case, to determine whether there is merit in the accusation prepared by Nisman to take the case to trial. On a not entirely parallel track are the investigations into Nisman’s death by his former wife, judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, who has been accepted as a party to the case on behalf of Nisman’s (and her) daughters.