MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Maradona case judge dismissed over documentary scandal

Makintach has been banned from earning a magistrate's pension, among other measures

Judge Julieta Makintach has been unanimously dismissed from office by the Impeachment Jury of the Province of Buenos Aires following an investigation into irregularities committed during the trial for the death of football icon Diego Maradona.

The ruling, which was announced Tuesday in the Buenos Aires Senate premises, permanently bans Makintach from holding any future judicial position and revokes her ability to retire as a magistrate. The former judge was not present for the reading of the verdict.

The case centered on Makintach’s participation in the documentary “Justicia Divina” (Divine Justice) while the Maradona trial was still ongoing.

According to the indictment, Makintach was aware of the documentary's content, trailer, and script, and agreed to participate on the condition that she would supervise the material. The eleven-member jury deemed this a “serious departure from the conduct expected of a magistrate.”

In its 115-page ruling, the jury, headed by Buenos Aires Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilda Hogan, emphasized that Makintach's conduct deviated from the “sobriety, prudence, and moderation required.” Senator Sergio Vargas, an associate judge, added a sharp warning: “When the cameras are turned on, there is a danger that a judge's ego will overshadow justice.”

Prosecutor Analía Duarte had been categorical in requesting her removal, stating that Makintach “lost the conditions required by the Constitution for the exercise of the judiciary.” Testimony from the documentary's producer reinforced the claim that the series “could not have been made without the judge.”

The jury's decision overrides Makintach's prior attempts to resign in June, a move that would have potentially allowed her to return to a judicial role later.

With Tuesday's ruling, Makintach is definitively removed from the judicial system, bringing a definitive close to the judge's role in the highly sensitive investigation into Maradona's passing.

Makintach's dismissal was followed by calls for the impeachment of the two remaining judges on the court overseeing the Maradona death trial: Maximiliano Savarino and Verónica Di Tomasso.

Attorney Rodolfo Baqué, representing nurse Dahiana Gisela Madrid (one of the eight defendants accused of the star’s alleged manslaughter), filed two requests for impeachment proceedings. Baqué argues that Judges Savarino and Di Tomasso were fully aware of the documentary starring Makintach and committed “misconduct” during the proceedings.

Baqué asserts that the judges failed to report the irregularities and, critically, “allowed Makintach to act as presiding judge, when she was acting as a substitute.” The fate of Judges Savarino and Di Tomasso now rests with the Buenos Aires provincial Permanent Jury.