A scandal is raging in Argentina over the mysterious death of federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman.

A scandal is raging in Argentina over the mysterious death of federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who accused the country's President Cristina Kirchner of reprehensible connections with terrorists.

Poster with the names of those killed in the bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994
Photo: Marcos Brindicci, Reuters

The column is led by Nikolay Zubov

Alberto Nisman, a federal prosecutor who for the past ten years has been investigating the worst terrorist attack in the country's history, the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and injured more than 300, was found dead at his home literally a few days before his scheduled speech in the country's Congress. In it, as everyone knew perfectly well, Nisman had to present evidence that a number of high-ranking Argentine officials tried to hide the involvement of the Iranian authorities in this tragedy.

During his investigation, Nisman indicted eight people - a member of the pro-Iranian Lebanese organization Hezbollah, which, in fact, carried out the attack, as well as several high-ranking Iranian officials and former employees of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. All this time, Iran denied its involvement in the terrorist attack and, of course, refused to hand over the accused to Argentina.

In 2013, Kirchner signed an agreement with Iran to create the so-called Truth Commission, which together was supposed to understand the story of the terrorist attack. For many in Argentina, including Nisman, this step seemed at least strange, since the actual accused - Iran - was allowed not only to all the materials of the investigation, but also to make a decision about his guilt or innocence.

According to Nisman, who conducted his investigation, the agreement to create the commission also included a memorandum that more clearly explained the obligations of the parties. Argentina, in particular, agreed to guarantee immunity from prosecution and the withdrawal of names from the Interpol database. Iran promised to supply Argentina with oil at favorable prices and to purchase Argentine meat and grain. Behind all this, Nisman argued, were not only people from the president’s inner circle, but also President Kirchner herself.

The investigation into the circumstances of the prosecutor's death was unusually fast. Within hours of the discovery of the body, authorities said Nisman had committed suicide. And this is despite the fact that there is evidence of breaking into the door of his apartment, but there is absolutely no suicide note or any traces of gunpowder on the hands of the deceased. Naturally, few people believed the official version. In Buenos Aires, spontaneous demonstrations took place at the “Pink House,” the residence of the country’s president, whose participants carried signs reading “Yo soy Nisman” (“I am Nisman”).

Kirchner's rating, already not off the charts, is rapidly falling. And it is likely to fall even further after a court in Buenos Aires ordered the publication of the full text of Nisman's investigation - about 300 pages. The text is already available on the Internet, and Judge Ariel Liho, who is tasked with studying the investigation materials and deciding on further steps, has not yet finished his work, but has already made it clear that he finds the materials collected by Nisman quite reliable and requires the initiation of an official criminal case.

Argentina doesn't believe in suicide