Posted on 09/02/2004 5:35:05 PM PDT by yonif
A federal court acquitted five men of charges of being accessories to the July 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center here, the deadliest terrorist attack on Argentine soil, which claimed 85 lives and injured some 300 people.
In a nationally televised verdict, a three-judge panel cleared four former provincial police officers and a former used car salesman accused of supplying the van used in the attack.
Judge Miguel Pons read the long-awaited verdict, which cleared the suspects of all major charges after a nearly three-year-long trial - the longest in Argentine history.
A handful of representatives from the Jewish community, who had angrily protested for years about a lack of progress in the investigation, sat in the packed courthouse. They had no immediate comment as the lengthy verdict was still being read.
The bombing on July 18, 1994, killed 85 people and wounded 300 others as a van, rigged with explosives, leveled the Argentine Israeli Mutual Aid Association, known locally by its Spanish acronym "AMIA."
The five defendants were not accused of direct involvement in the bombing but were charged as accomplices for alleged roles in a stolen car ring that prosecutors said had delivered the white van used in the attack. Prosecutors had sought life sentences.
The explosion leveled the seven-story building, a symbol of Argentina's 300,000-strong Jewish community, the largest in Latin America. The masterminds of the attack were never identified.
It was the second of two bombings targeting Jews in Argentina during the 1990s. A March 1992 blast destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people in a case that remains unsolved.
Jewish and Argentine officials have charged the community center bombing was linked to Islamic fundamentalists and pro-Iranian terrorists, charges denied by Tehran repeatedly.
After failing in efforts to extradite Iranian suspects wanted in the case, investigators have instead focused on what has been called "the local connection."
Legal experts have described the trial as the longest in the country's history. More than 1,200 witnesses were summoned or submitted written testimony during the non-jury trial.
Many families of the victims, angrily claiming the case had been botched by investigators, refused to attend Thursday's session.
Jewish leaders pointed to a decision by judicial officials earlier this year to remove a judge who led much of the investigation after accusations surfaced that he bribed a key witness. At least two prosecutors also were removed for alleged irregularities.
Jewish community leaders have accused the courts, the police and various Argentine governments of failing to carry out a proper investigation for fear it could lead to embarrassing revelations.
"This has been a long and painful process," said Marta Nercellas, a lawyer for some of the victims.
Those acquitted Thursday included Juan Jose Ribelli, a former Buenos Aires provincial police chief whom prosecutors alleged had been part of a ring that had supplied the van.
Carlos Alberto Telleldin, accused by investigators of being a stolen car dealer under Ribelli's protection, was another key defendant. He was accused of delivering the stolen van to the police gang members eight days before the bombing. The other defendants were Raul Ibarra, Anastasio Leal and Mario Bareiro.
President Nestor Kirchner last year signed decrees opening secret intelligence documents and ordering intelligence agents to testify about what they know about the bombings.
Jewish leaders hailed Kirchner's decision, saying it was the first step in years the Argentine government had taken to get to the bottom of the decade-old case.
At least they are showing their true colors.
My take on Argentina is that if a country treats Jews like sh**, watch that economy tumble. And tumble it did. Their economy is still worse than 1929 in the USA.
College graduates are working for less than $2 an hour, if they still have work.
PS. Some of the best physicians I've seen are Jews from Argentina. They are treated so badly there. Argentinians think of physicians the way the Soviets did (scum).
At least they are showing their true colors.
My take on Argentina is that if a country treats Jews like sh**, watch that economy tumble. And tumble it did. Their economy is still worse than 1929 in the USA.
College graduates are working for less than $2 an hour, if they still have work.
PS. Some of the best physicians I've seen are Jews from Argentina. They are treated so badly there. Argentinians think of physicians the way the Soviets did (scum).
I know Argentina well, and the day will come when we'll come to understand that Argentina is the wealthy nation, and it we who are poor.
I have friends who live down there. I know them and the armed guards they have to keep to protect themselves. I thank G-d I live in the USA every day.
Ping!
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