MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: Higher court orders rebel group leaders be released

Basile insists she demonstrated for equality before the law and denied any connection with the attempted murder against CFK

A Buenos Aires Federal Court of Appeals Tuesday ordered the release of the members of the rebel group Revolución Federal who have been arrested for alleged incitement to violence.

The judges found that releasing Jonathan Morel, Leonardo Sosa, Gastón Guerra, and Sabrina Basile would not jeopardize the ongoing investigation into the ultra-right-wing group.

Basile's case gained additional notoriety since she is the daughter of former Argentine national football team coach Alfio Coco Basile.

The higher court had a dissenting opinion from that of the one-magistrate lower court of Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi, who believed the defendants could hinder the investigation, for example, by intimidating witnesses.

Morel and Basile have both denied any link with the Sept. 1 attempted murder of Vice President Cristina Kirchner, who requested to be considered a plaintiff in this case and asked for the defendants not to be released.

“One of the banners for which I demonstrate in the streets is equality before the law and it seems to me that in this country we have to start being coherent with what we proclaim. Here I am, subordinated to the law and committed to following it according to the law,” Basile said in a video conference from the detention facility where she was held.