Argentina's Ex President Macri Investigated for Illegal Espionage

On Tuesday, Federal Prosecutor Franco Picardi asked to investigate former President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) for illegal espionage activities directed against progressive politicians, among whom is the current vice president Cristina Fernandez.

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Picardi also requested that the former director of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) Gustavo Arribas and the former deputy director Silvia Majdalani be tried.

Between July and August 2018, these officials would have carried out prohibited intelligence tasks to the detriment of Fernandez, who was a senator at the time.

Subsequently, Arribas and Majdalani falsified documents to legalize the political espionage actions, indicated the Prosecutor, who considered that the accusation against the former AFI members should continue towards those ultimately responsible for the operations.

"Picardi handed over to Judge Marcelo Martinez a 200-pages report in which he holds that the investigation into the participation of Arribas, Majdalani and other AFI officials is concluded," local outlet El Destape reported, adding that the Federal Prosecutor requested that the trial begin and Macri be investigated.

The 2018 intelligence tasks against Cristina Fernandez were carried out at her home in Buenos Aires and at the Patria Institute, which is the main venue for her political activities.

Previously, the former Argentine president faced other complaints for illegal espionage. One of them led to a trial for espionage on the relatives of the victims of the missing ARA San Juan submarine in 2017. This process, however, was revoked in 2021.