ARA San Juan: the Court of Cassation confirms Macri’s dismissal

The Federal Court of Criminal Cassation confirmed on Tuesday the dismissal of the case against former President Mauricio Macri in the case for illegal espionage on relatives of the 44 victims of the sinking of the submarine ARA San Juan, which occurred in November 2017. Gustavo Arribas and Silvia Majdalani and 9 former agents of the agency who were accused in the case. The sentence stated: “The difficult moments experienced by the families and friends of the deceased during the period of time that has elapsed since the sinking of the submarine ARA San Juan – which occurred on November 15, 2017 – to the present day do not go unnoticed or indifferent.” However, they added that “it is not enough to render illegal the behaviors carefully examined” when the dismissals were issued, now confirmed, on the grounds that there was no crime and that they were tasks linked to presidential security. It is necessary that the case in which the sinking is being investigated advances definitively and promptly towards a concrete response for the aforementioned relatives of the forty-four (44) deceased crew members who lost their lives in the line of duty and in the service of the homeland,” the ruling concluded. In a statement, lawyer Valeria Carreras, who represents a group of women relatives of the crew members, said that the ruling “ratifies that they were followed, photographed and their personal information cataloged” and “exposes the revictimization” of their clients. The majority lawsuit celebrates Comodoro Py’s ruling. Because it was not in vain to appeal to the United Nations rapporteur, knowing what the result would be. Because it is ratified that they were followed, photographed and their personal information cataloged. Because it exposes the revictimization of my clients,” said Carreras.In her statement, attorney Carreras stressed that “of three members of Cassation, there was one vote that listened to and applied the Law (although it was not enough),” in reference to the vote of Judge Angela Ledesma. 

Original source in Spanish