BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — Thousands gathered in Buenos Aires to remember Alberto Nisman, the special prosecutor in the AMIA Jewish center bombing, one year after his still-mysterious death.
Journalist Joaquin Morales Sola, prosecutor Ricardo Saenz and Ariel Cohen Sabban, president of the Jewish umbrella group DAIA, were the main speakers Monday at Plaza Alemania, in the Palermo neighborhood. DAIA organized the event.
Sola, a columnist for the La Nacion newspaper and the host of a weekly program on the TN news channel, called Nisman’s shooting death “the most important political crime in Argentinian history.” Nisman was found dead in his Buenos Aires apartment on Jan. 18, 2015; the cause of death has yet to be determined.
“I don’t think that it was a suicide. Nisman was murdered,” Sola told the crowd of over 5,000. “In my opinion Nisman was murdered three times: He also was murdered when he was discredited without possibility of defending himself, and also again when the judges didn’t investigate his charges” against the administration of former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Members of the government on hand included Vice President Gabriela Michetti, who stood alongside Nisman’s mother, Sara Garfunkel, and several national ministers, as well as foreign diplomatic representatives from the United States, Israel, Germany, France and the Czech Republic.
Saenz praised Nisman’s work as a fellow prosecutor, saying “he found his death in the exercise of his role as a prosecutor. His work was what we all expected to be done” He asked for the investigation of Iranian citizens and arranged for Interpol to spread international alerts.”
Sabban called for memory and justice in Nisman’s death.
“We want to know how the gun was triggered and who did it,” he said.
Nisman’s daughters, Kala and Iara, in a letter read by their aunt Marcela Arroyo, acknowledged the people’s support for their father. They were received on Sunday morning by President Mauricio Macri, in contrast with his predecessor, Kirchner, who never received Nisman’s relatives nor expressed condolences to the Nisman family
Sola also spoke about Nisman’s complaint filed right before his death.
“I want Nisman’s accusation to be reopened and finally investigated,” he said.
One month ago, a federal prosecutor asked an Argentine court to reopen the complaint filed by Nisman charging that Kirchner covered up Iran’s role in the 1994 AMIA bombing, which killed 85 and injured hundreds.
Nisman was found dead on the floor of his apartment with a bullet to the head just hours before he was to present the evidence on his charges against Kirchner and other government officials to Argentine lawmakers.
His grave is located in the largest Jewish cemetery in Argentina, in the “Martyrs Section,” where the victims of the AMIA attack are buried.
