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Natalio Alberto Nisman (5 December 1963 – 18 January 2015) was an Argentine federal prosecutor, noted for being the chief investigator of the 1994 car bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center, which killed 85 people, becoming the worst terrorist attack in Argentina's history.
Biography
Born in Buenos Aires, Alberto Nisman started his career as a prosecutor in Morón, Buenos Aires. He was married to judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, and had two daughters with her.
He worked on the investigation of the AMIA bombing, a 1994 terrorist attack against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association. On October 25, 2006, Nisman formally accused the government of Iran of directing the AMIA bombing, and the Hezbollah militia of carrying it out. According to the prosecution, Argentina had been targeted by Iran after Buenos Aires' decision to suspend a nuclear technology transfer contract to Tehran. In November 2007, following the accusation, Interpol published the names of six individuals officially accused for their role in the terrorist attack. They were entered in the Interpol red notice list: Imad Fayez Moughnieh, Ali Fallahijan, Mohsen Rabbani, Ahmad Reza Asghari, Ahmad Vahidi and Mohsen Rezaee.
He asked in 2008 for the detention of the former president Carlos Menem and the judge Juan José Galeano. WikiLeaks revealed that the US diplomacy considered that Nisman may have done so to be in good standing with president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. He was considered a possible candidate for General Prosecutor of the Nation, after the resignation of Esteban Righi during the Boudougate scandal.
Nisman rejected the 2013 Memorandum of understanding signed with Iran to investigate the case. Two years later, he accused President Cristina Kirchner, Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman and other politicians of covering up Iranian suspects in the case.
Death
Some who knew Nisman well, including congresswoman Cornelia Schmidt-Liermann, said that he had been living under constant threats on his life since he began his investigation 10 years earlier. On 19 January 2015, Nisman was found dead at his home in Buenos Aires with a handgun nearby just hours before he was due to explain his allegations to Congress. Police investigators said the death appeared to be a suicide, while family members and those who knew him rejected that possibility.
References
- "Jewish centre bombing: Argentine prosecutor Nisman found dead". BBC News. 19 January 2015.
- "An explosion within an explosion", The Economist, UK, Jan. 19, 2015
- ^ "Quién era el fiscal Natalio Alberto Nisman" (in Spanish). La Nación. January 19, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - Julian Obligio y Diego Naveira (2014). "Chapter 9: Rewriting History in Argentina". Iran's Strategic Penetration of Latin America. Lanham, Maryland, Lexington Books. p. 81/92. ISBN 9780739182666.
- "Argentina, Iran reach deal on 1994 bombing inquiry". YNet.
- "Iran, Hezbollah charged in 1994 Argentine bombing". Daily Jang. October 25, 2006. Archived from the original on September 1, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2006.
- "Iran charged over Argentina bomb". BBC News. October 25, 2006. Archived from the original on 7 November 2006. Retrieved October 25, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - Acusan a Irán por el ataque a la AMIA, La Nación, October 26, 2006
- INTERPOL
- INTERPOL Executive Committee takes decision on AMIA Red Notice dispute
- ^ "Mystery clouds death of Argentine prosecutor set to testify", Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2015
- "Argentine prosecutor who accused Cristina Kirchner over 1994 bombings found dead", The Telegraph, UK, Jan. 19, 2015
- "Argentine Prosecutor Is Found Dead After Accusing President". Bloomberg L.P. 19 January 2015.