MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Parlasur to decide in May when to vote on Pepín's fate

Parlasur needs 77 votes to dismiss Pepín sometime in May

Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) Wednesday announced a decision will be made on May 9 on when to vote for the dismissal of Argentine legislator Fabián “Pepín” Rodríguez Simón.

According to Montevideo Portal, the date will be set sometime next month.

Pepín is wanted by Buenos Aires Federal Judge María Romilda Servini for his alleged involvement in off-the-record pressure on behalf of then-President Mauricio Macri to force businessmen Cristóbal López and Fabián De Sousa, shareholders of the Indalo Group, who were unsuccessfully coerced into selling their stakes at the cable news TV station C5N, Radio 10 and other media outlets to buyers in allegiance to the ruling party.

Rodríguez Simón is also said to have been involved in illegal espionage against relatives of the crew of the doomed ARA San Juan submarine.

On April 4 Rodríguez Simón was booed at the Parlasur building in Montevideo, where his legal status of “fugitive” was underlined.

When voting on Pepín's expulsion, legislators from Uruguay's multicolor coalition plan to vote against it, claiming Rodríguesz Simón is entitled to parliamentarian immunity as per national and international regulations.

The Government of Uruguay is yet to decide on Pepín's request for refugee status and political asylum, on which his extradition request from Servini hinges, according to a decision from Uruguayan Judge Adriana Chamsarián. Rodríguez Simón has always maintained he was the victim of persecution.

“The Plenary of the Mercosur Parliament is neither judge nor party to merit the illicit acts that Mr. Rodríguez Simón is accused of, however, it has the duty to watch over a decorous conduct of its members,” according to Parlasur sources quoted by Diario Hoy, who insisted Pepín was at fault for not appearing before the courts when he was summoned by a judge, regardless of all the facts under investigation.

In order for Pepín to be expelled, 77 votes (two-thirds of the body) are needed. of its members.