BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — A federal judge in Argentina said that AMIA Jewish center bombing prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered.
It is the first time since Nisman’s death in January 2015 that the case has officially been classified as murder. Others have said that Nisman committed suicide in the bathroom of his Buenos Aires apartment.
Judge Julian Ercolini on Tuesday in a 656-page ruling said the gunshot that killed Jewish prosecutor Alberto Nisman “was not a suicide, and was brought about by a third party.”
The decision also charged Diego Lagomarsino, a former employee of Nisman’s, as an accessory to murder.
Following Nisman’s death Lagomarsino said he went to the prosecutor’s apartment to give him a “very old” .22 caliber pistol to protect himself after Nisman expressed fears that he was being targeted by supporters of then-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Hours later, Nisman was found dead by a bullet from that gun fired at point-blank range above his right ear. Prior to Tuesday, Lagomarsino had been charged only with lending the pistol to Nisman. The judge also noted that Lagomarsino was the last known person to enter Nisman´s apartment.”
Nisman’s body was found on Jan. 18, 2015, hours before he was to present evidence to Argentine lawmakers that Kirchner covered up Iran’s role in the attack on the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires that left 85 dead and hundreds wounded.
Lagomarsino, an IT technician, will remain under surveillance with an electronic anklet. The judge also froze his bank accounts.
The judge on Tuesday also charged four police guards who were in charge of Nisman´s safety with “aggravated concealment” and “failure to comply with the duties of a public official.”
The investigation continues. When it concludes, Ercolini will present the case to a panel of three judges that will conduct a courtroom trial and arrive at a sentence.
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