Federal prosecutor Fabiana León ruled out the possibility that the businesspeople charged in the Corruption Notebooks case could avoid being held accountable before the courts in exchange for financial compensation.
“There is no price that can be put on the institutional damage that has been caused; in this prosecutor's office, impunity is not for sale”, León stated during the hearing taking place at midday before Federal Oral Court 7, which must solve the matter.
Previously, the head of the Financial Information Unit (UIF), Paul Starc, had expressed a similar view. He indicated that accepting this type of proposal would amount to commodifying corruption and allowing impunity for those with economic power.
Empresarios investigados.
More than 40 accused executives had offered payments and even material assets with the aim of avoiding a public oral trial. Among these offers, one of the defendants proposed a Miami apartment and a yacht.
Prosecutor Fabiana León took a firm stance regarding the proposal submitted by 47 businesspeople and the former Kirchnerist Chief of Staff, Juan Manuel Abal Medina. During the hearing, León categorically rejected the possibility of extinguishing criminal action through the reparatory agreements proposed by nearly half a hundred repentant individuals, defending the holding of a public oral trial.
What the prosecutor said
The prosecutor explained that reparation doesn't consist of a payment imposed by the judge. “Without genuine consensus, comprehensive reparation is not possible”, she stated, adding that this mechanism requires a specific victim and damage that can be measured and repaired. “It is to fully and adequately satisfy the injured legal interest, in a total, proportional, and specific manner to the damage caused”, she affirmed.
Causa de los Cuadernos de la Corrupción
León emphasized that in this type of case there is no individual victim with whom to negotiate, and that accepting unilateral payments would be equivalent to “opening a market of impunity”. She also highlighted that, since the case was assigned to the General Prosecutor's Office, she received all attorneys interested in discussing possible alternative solutions, and she stressed that all acted “with absolute propriety and in strict exercise of their official duties”.
The prosecutor expressed her concern about the lack of guarantees that all defenses were fully informed, and she emphasized the importance of all defendants participating on equal terms.
Regarding the call to the hearing, she stated that “there can be no deals behind society's back. It would be repugnant to do so in such a way. It would be repugnant in itself as well as to the very concept of the Republic”. She stressed that the case involves acts of corruption of great magnitude, with the participation of state officials and businesspeople, and that the only legitimate way to solve it is through an oral, public, and adversarial judicial process.
