Judge dismisses charges against Argentinian president

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Buenos Aires, Feb. 27, (dpa/GNA) - A judge dismissed Thursday the charges against Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her Foreign Minister Hector Timerman over the alleged cover-up of any Iranian involvement in a 1994 attack on a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires that claimed the lives of 85 people.

Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas did not think the charges that were formally filed by public prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita on February 13 was founded and opted to dismiss them, the Argentinian daily La Nacion reported, citing court sources.

"It is clear that neither of the two criminal hypotheses presented by prosecutor Pollicita in his complaint minimally stand at all," Rafecas reportedly said.

The judge reportedly said there was a lack of evidence to support the allegations.

Pollicita had charged Fernandez de Kirchner in connection with the complaint that special prosecutor Alberto Nisman filed on January 14.

Nisman, who had been investigating the attack on the community centre for 11 years, was found dead in his apartment just four days later under mysterious circumstances.

The government staunchly denied the allegations and insisted that "there is no evidence whatsoever, not even circumstantial in nature," that the president or her aides committed any crimes.

Fernandez de Kirchner has explicitly dismissed Nisman's allegations in recent weeks and suggested that both the allegations and his subsequent death constitute an attempt to destabilize the government.

Nisman and Pollicita alleged that Fernandez de Kirchner and others had plotted to pardon the Iranian suspects in the attack in order to improve commercial relations with Tehran.

Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, who is in charge of the investigation of the 1994 attack, cast doubt on Nisman's allegations.

Earlier this month, Timerman told the Washington Post in an interview that the 2013 deal, which later fell through, sought only to get over legal hurdles, since Iran does not allow extradition and Argentinian law does not allow suspects to be tried in absentia.

"That is why we decided it might be a possibility, maybe, to convince the Iranians, the government of Iran, to allow the judge to go to Tehran to investigate suspects," Timerman said.

But critics had long suspected an illegal and secret deal that would have allowed Argentina to export agricultural produce to Iran and import Iranian oil in exchange for having the charges dropped.

Nisman was found dead on January 18 in his Buenos Aires apartment with a handgun and a bullet casing beside his body.

His death came a day before he was expected to testify before Congress about his accusations against the president and her aides.

GNA