MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Alberto Fernandez: “Nisman committed suicide, I hope Luciani does not do something like that”; the prosecutor replied

“I do not know the meaning he wanted to give to what he said but it is not a good message”, said Luciani.

The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, said an unfortunate phrase in a television interview while trying to defend Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) from the corruption accusation for the so-called Causa Vialidad (Road Cause). The statement generated repudiation from the Judiciary, the opposition and an immediate political impact.

“Nisman committed suicide, I hope Luciani does not do something like that”, said Alberto Fernandez last night in an interview with the news channel TN.

The phrase in question involves two actors of the Argentine Justice. On the one hand, it speaks of the controversial case of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead on January 18, 2015, hours before filing his indictment against former President CFK before the Criminal Legislation Committee of the Argentine Low Chamber.

On the other hand, he mentioned the prosecutor involved in the case that has been on headlines these days, Diego Luciani.

In an interview with Infobae, Luciani revealed that in the last few weeks he decided to disconnect himself from all the repercussions of his plea for the public works trial in which he asked for Cristina Fernández to be sentenced to 12 years in prison and to a life disqualification from holding public office for considering her the head of an illicit association that defrauded the state with the public works irregularly received by the businessman Lázaro Báez.

Federal prosecutor Luciani responded today to President Alberto Fernandez after the head of state said yesterday that he hopes he will not commit suicide like Alberto Nisman. “It is worrying the serious subjugation of the institutions by a President of the Nation”, said Luciani.

Interviewed by the aforementioned media, the prosecutor added that he did not take personally what the head of state said. “I do not know the meaning he wanted to give to what he said but it is not a good message”, said the prosecutor.

“It is worrying the serious subjugation of institutions by a President of the Nation or the Minister of Security, who should be the first to practice republican values. They should not forget that they represent all citizens”, said Luciani in a conversation with this media.

In the TV interview, Alberto Fernández, defended the vice-president on Wednesday by assuring that “she did not commit any crime”, after the Prosecutor's Office requested a 12-year prison sentence against her for alleged irregularities in the awarding of public works when she was president (2007-2015).
The President said that “Cristina Fernández de Kirchner did not commit any of the crimes attributed to her”.

Following the President's statements, last night the Association of Prosecutors and Officials of the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Nation came out to support Luciani.

The entity presided by federal prosecutor Carlos Rívolo stated in a press release that “his statements have an unpleasant and reckless content towards an official who has only fulfilled his job assigned by Article 120 of the National Constitution, which establishes the independence and autonomy of the Public Prosecutor's Office, in Case 2833: 'Fernández de Kirchner, Cristina y otros s/infracción art 173 y 210 del Código Penal'”.

The association recalled that Article 109 of the National Constitution states that “in no case may the President of the Nation exercise judicial functions, arrogate to himself the knowledge of pending cases or reinstate those that have expired”. “This clearly imposes on the President, as opposed to the citizens of a nation, the command not to interfere in any way, even through criticism, flattery or comments on cases in progress,” the association added.