Federal judge Julián Ercolini accused the former prosecutor of failing to prevent the shortcomings and the "lack of control" at the scene of Alberto Nisman’s death and also ordered a seizure of 15 million pesos.
Lack of professionalism: Viviana Fein “entered the crime scene without the proper attire for such a purpose” and allowed others to do the same, contaminating the forensic area.
Area left open for contamination: “Free circulation at the crime scene was allowed for individuals who lacked assigned roles, without identification, control, or sufficient record”.
In a historic ruling that shakes the foundations of impunity in Argentina during the Kirchner era, federal judge Julián Ercolini ordered the prosecution of former prosecutor Viviana Fein. The measure identifies her as responsible for the crime of “aggravated concealment”, a classification that reflects both the extreme severity of the crime that was attempted to be hidden and her status as a public official. In this same act, the magistrate imposed a preventive seizure of her assets for the sum of 15 million pesos, marking the beginning of the end for those who orchestrated the “chaos” in the Puerto Madero apartment.
The judicial resolution, which consists of 114 pages, is emphatic in reaffirming that for Argentine justice it is fully proven that prosecutor Natalio Alberto Nisman was the victim of a “violent death”, a murder committed on the weekend of January 17 and 18, 2015. Nisman, who led the UFI AMIA unit, was found dead just days after he criminally reported then-president Cristina Kirchner for the alleged concealment of the terrorist attack on the AMIA through a pact with Iran.
Judge Ercolini was relentless in describing the role of Viviana Fein, stating that the former prosecutor “did not properly preserve the crime scene nor collect all the evidentiary elements that were there”. According to the magistrate, the actions of the now-processed “allowed for the alteration of the crime scene, perpetrated by the actions of the prosecutor herself and those present under her jurisdiction”, which directly and destructively affected the outcome of the initial investigation. These “deficiencies” would have caused a “serious detriment” by leading to the irreversible loss of evidence at a crucial moment.
Among the most scandalous details outlined in the prosecution are the following irregularities committed by the then “director of the investigation”:
Unjustified delay: The prosecutor took almost an hour and a half to arrive at the scene after the body was discovered.
Manipulation of critical evidence: The magistrate reported that the prosecutor “manipulated and/or allowed the manipulation and alteration of evidentiary elements without proper authorization”, including serious failures in the chain of custody of the weapon that fired the fatal bullet, which was in different locations in the apartment without control.
Omission of evidence: Fein “did not collect or notice the existence of essential evidentiary elements for the investigation” and poorly limited the perimeter of the scene solely to the interior of the apartment.
Despite attempting to distance herself from responsibility in her interrogatory statement on February 24, Viviana Fein claimed that the accusations are mere “conjectures” and defended her actions, the Justice has determined that, due to her role, “she could not be unaware of the actions of those agents who intervened as auxiliaries”.
This prosecution adds to the existing ones in the case, where IT technician Diego Lagomarsino remains prosecuted as a supposed necessary participant in the homicide for having provided the weapon, and Nisman’s bodyguards face charges for failure to comply with public official duties. With this decision, the fight for justice for Alberto Nisman takes a firm step against those who, from within the Judiciary, would have worked to ensure silence and impunity for political power.
