MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former ambassador to leave Argentina's diplomatic mission in Tel Aviv

Urribarri was sentenced April 7 to eight years in prison and banned for life from holding any public office

Former Argentina's Ambassador to Israel Sergio Urribarri, who resigned his position after being convicted to eight years in jail for acts of corruption during his tenure as Governor of the province of Entre Ríos, is to leave the diplomatic building where he has been sheltering, it was announced in Buenos Aires.

Urribarri had been prosecuted by Cecilia Goyeneche, who lost her job over the issue, although the case was not cited in the formalities of her dismissal.

Read also: Argentina: Impeachment jury votes to sack successful anti-corruption prosecutor

After President Alberto Fernández said he had accepted Urribarri's resignation following his prison sentence for embezzlement and dealings incompatible with public office in five different cases, the latter's leaving the embassy was loudly called for by the opposition. More so when the former governor presided over the May 25 celebrations at the Israel mission.

Fernández and former Minister Santiago Cafiero Tuesday signed Decree 287/2022 formally acquiescing to Urribarri's resignation “as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic to the State of Israel, as of the day after the publication,” in the Official Gazette.

Urribarri will be transferred “from the Embassy of the Republic to the State of Israel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the document also specified.

Urribarri was sentenced April 7 to eight years in prison and banned for life from holding any public office for acts of corruption between 2007 and 2015.

Read also: Argentina's Ambassador to Israel sentenced to 8 years for corruption

Goyeneche has hinted her removal was some sort of “a political revenge” in addition to a warning, so as to prevent something like Urribarri's conviction from happening again.

Opposition Juntos por el Cambio lawmakers have mooted Cafiero's impeachment over the delay in removing a convicted felon from the embassy.