In a new display of ideological cynicism, the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), led by former spy and Kirchnerist operative Horacio Verbitsky, came out in support of Alesia Abaigar, former official of the Ministry of Women of the province of Buenos Aires, who was arrested for throwing excrement and leaving death threats at the home of liberal lawmaker José Luis Espert.
Abaigar, identified as an activist aligned with the most radicalized Kirchnerism, was arrested after her participation in a violent attack at the legislator's house. The intervention, which included intimidating graffiti and the throwing of fecal matter, was classified by the Judiciary as an act of political violence. After her arrest, she spent 48 hours incommunicado and was transferred to a federal prison, a measure that government officials justified as appropriate given the gravity of the incident.
However, CELS denounced her imprisonment as a case of "selective criminalization", accusing the national government of carrying out a "political persecution". In its statement, the organization asserted that "selective criminalization sends a political message: those who dissent with this government will suffer reprisals, including prison. Those who support it can do and say anything."
This position not only trivializes the seriousness of the attack on a democratically elected official, but also exposes the double moral standard with which the supposed defenders of human rights operate. For CELS, guarantees exist only for those who think like them: if you are a Kirchnerist, everything is permitted; if you are a liberal or right-wing, punishment is the rule.
