Six former sergeants in the Argentine army have been released from jail after an appeals court ruled in their favor and dismissed charges that they participated in the July 18, 1994, terror bombing of the Jewish headquarters here.
The six were arrested last December after the official in charge of the bombing case, Judge Juan Jose Galeano, ordered a raid on army bases and private homes in suburbs near here.
The arrests of the six gave credence to the theory that right-wing military cells were involved in the terrorist attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association, or AMIA building, that left 86 dead and 300 wounded.
Galeano charged the six with being accessories to the terrorist attack and with planning to sell firearms and some 130 pounds of plastic explosives that were found in their possession.
But last Friday, a superior court here rejected the first charge and ordered the release of the six detainees on bail.
Alberto Crupnicoff, the president of AMIA, called the court decision “a disappointment.”
Israel’s ambassador to Argentina, Itzhak Aviran, refused to comment on the court’s decision, but he called on the Argentine government to redouble its efforts of find those involved in the bombing.
Jewish officials here and abroad have often been critical of the Argentine government’s inability to solve the AMIA case, which has been marked by a frustrating succession of false leads.
Argentina has also come under criticism for a similar inability to find those responsible for the March 17, 1992, bombing of the Israeli Embassy, which left 29 dead and some 100 wounded.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
