Argentine congressman Alejandro Óscar Finocchiaro announced that he will request an impeachment trial against the president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, for his death threats against prosecutor Diego Luciani, who is investigating alleged corruption cases of the current vice-president and former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
The Argentine impeachment trial is similar to the U.S. impeachment. However, instead of opening criminal proceedings against the official (president), its purpose is to disqualify the accused. The aim, according to the Argentine Congress, is to avoid impunity and guarantee the proper functioning of the State.
TOMORROW I WILL FILE A REQUEST FOR IMPEACHMENT. President @alferdez just committed the crime of threats in the exercise of his duties. There is a limit to everything. pic.twitter.com/snXBGK9W5H
- Alejandro Finocchiaro (@alefinocchiaro) August 25, 2022
Death threats against Luciani
In the program A dos voces from TN channel, Alberto Fernández openly defended his vice-president: "Cristina is an honest woman, she has not participated in any of the accusations against her. She did not commit any of the crimes attributed to her.” At one point in his defense, he went further and made a veiled threat to prosecutor Luciani, recalling the death of another Argentine prosecutor, Alberto Nisman. Nisman was found dead at his home with a gunshot wound to the head in 2015 after alleging that the then president wanted to cover up the perpetrators of the AMIA massacre, the worst terrorist attack ever recorded in Argentina, for which Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, are accused.
When asked about the request to reinforce Luciani's security, Fernández launched this grim message to the prosecutor:
Encouraging the idea that what happened to Nisman could happen to prosecutor Luciani... look, up to this point, what happened to Nisman is that he committed suicide. So far, nothing else has been proven. I hope that prosecutor Luciani does not do something like that.
These words provoked immediate rejection among the opposition, which was terrified by the president's threats to the public official. Several representatives denounced the "impunity" with which Kirchnerism terrorizes the country by launching these types of messages.
¡NOOO! No puede decir eso, presidente. ¿Toma conciencia de la gravedad de sus dichos? pic.twitter.com/HmWGODDS3e
— Patricia Bullrich (@PatoBullrich) August 25, 2022
“Nisman se suicidó, espero que Luciani no haga lo mismo”.
Lo que está diciendo el Presidente es gravísimo. La impunidad del kirchnerismo no tiene límites. pic.twitter.com/Ig1O5r6zA2— Diego Santilli (@diegosantilli) August 25, 2022
Fernandez changes his version of Nisman's murder
Alberto Fernández's words take on greater relevance if we take into account his past assessment of Nisman's murder. Fernández himself acknowledged a few years ago, before becoming president and ally of Cristina Kirchner, that the prosecutor had been murdered. Something that, in his opinion, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and "all of Argentina" also knew. With this recognition, the Argentine president's words take on tremendous gravity. So he threatens prosecutor Luciani with the same fate as Nisman: that he would end up being murdered after investigating Kirchner's crimes.
Do you guys realize that the same person who last night said "Nisman committed suicide. I hope prosecutor Luiciani doesn't do the same," in what seems to be a clear mafia message, is the same person who said this 👇 pic.twitter.com/tw5SRKjq0s
- Alejo Schapire (@aschapire) August 25, 2022
