Argentina’s President Relieves Macri of Intelligence Secrecy

"I relieve engineer Mauricio Macri of the obligation to keep secrecy and confidentiality, under the terms of Law No. 25,520," states Decree 750 to which Sputnik Agency had access.

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 Argentina: Court Hearing Against Ex-President Macri Is Suspended

On the same day that Macri's indictment was frustrated, the Argentine President granted the request of the judge investigating the case, Martin Bava, to relieve the former President from keeping intelligence secrets.

The magistrate's request was made at the request of Macri's lawyer "in the context of the hearing of the accused, which had to be suspended during the course of the hearing to avoid future nullifying arguments," the decree states.

This situation "leads to the presumption that the named party requires, in order to exercise his defense properly, to allude to the performance of intelligence activities related to the object of the proceedings," it adds.

The text, which will be published this Friday in the Official Gazette, takes into account "the possible commission of crimes related to intelligence activities prohibited by law, and not to activities or information that must be classified in the interest of internal security."

Consequently, "it is appropriate to relieve the accused of the duty of secrecy and confidentiality established by the regulations in force," states the decree in reference to the Intelligence Law.

OFFICIAL TO THE JUDGE

The President sent on Thursday night response to the official letter that Judge Bava sent him hours before to request that Macri be relieved from testifying.

In this document, to which this agency also had access, he informs that Decree 750 was issued "whereby Mauricio Macri is relieved from the obligation of confidentiality and secrecy under the terms of Law No. 25,520".

The former President went to Bava's court on Thursday in Dolores, Buenos Aires. Still, he could not be questioned because he was not relieved from testifying about intelligence secrets, according to his lawyer, Martin Lanusse.

As Macri's defense, the lawyer blamed the magistrate for the "gross error" that led the former President to appear before the judge on Thursday without being able to be questioned.

Before appearing before the judge, the former head of state spoke from a stage in front of a crowd of about 300 people who came to support him in his first hearing as a former president.

On Wednesday, the Federal Chamber, based in the seaside city of Mar del Plata, in the province of Buenos Aires (east), endorsed Martin Bava as the judge in charge of the case held initially by Magistrate Alejandro Padilla. His court is also located in Dolores.

Thursday's hearing was the third one ordered by the judge to take a statement from Mauricio Macri, who was absent on the first two occasions.

Macri was out of the country regarding the first summons on October 7, while regarding the second one, scheduled for October 20, the former President decided not to attend and requested the judge's dismissal.

Bava wants to interrogate the former head of state, who is forbidden to leave the country, for six acts of illegal espionage.

The file analyzes whether the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) carried out during his administration espionage tasks to the relatives of the 44 crew members who were shipwrecked in the Navy submarine (ARA) San Juan on November 15, 2017.

The case was initiated on September 23, 2020, from a presentation made by the current ombudswoman of the intelligence agency, Cristina Caamaño.

In her presentation, Macri was denounced for being responsible for setting the intelligence policy's strategic guidelines and general objectives.

In this case, the former director of the AFI during the previous government, Gustavo Arribas, and the deputy director, Silvia Majdalani, have been indicted, with the confirmation of the Federal Court of Mar del Plata.