The family of Alberto Nisman, a top Argentine prosecutor who was found dead of a bullet wound in his home the day before he was to testify against the President of Argentina before the nation’s legislature, claims there is evidence in the home that the shooter washed his hands in Nisman’s bathroom before leaving.
An expert witness brought to trial by the family, Daniel Salcedo, presented evidence this week proving that Nisman could not have killed himself and made the blood stains found in his bathroom. Nisman was found dead on January 18 in his home with a bullet wound in his head. He was to present a report before the Argentine legislature the next day accusing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and other high-ranking officials of helping Iran-linked terrorists escape justice after organizing the deadliest terror attack in Argentina’s history.
Salcedo told the chief prosecutor in the Nisman case, Viviana Fein, that bloodstains in the bathroom could not have been made by Nisman because of the angle at which he fell. The stains, he argued, were “almost half a meter above where the victim’s head was found.” In addition, he noted that no bloodstains were found under the sink, only above it. Had Nisman shot himself and fell to the floor under the sink, it is to be expected that some blood would splatter there.
Salcedo used a digital animation to make his point. His evidence will be taken into consideration, though the federal police have ruled out homicide.
Nisman, who went as far as to draft an arrest warrant for the President of Argentina before his death, was honored last week at events observing the anniversary of the bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) in 1994, widely believed to be the project of Iran-backed terrorists. The 18th was also the six-month anniversary of Nisman’s death. “It is cruel to ignore six months later how and why he died,” Sara Garfunkel, Nisman’s mother, told a crowd gathered to observe the anniversary. Elder daughter Iara asked the crowd, “Help me and my sister find the truth. … Many things were said, but he can no longer defend himself.”
Argentines took to the streets by the thousands in January calling for justice in the Nisman case, holding up signs reading, “Islamic Fundamentalism Killed Nisman.” Nisman, himself of Jewish descent, spent years compiling a report that he claimed proved the Argentine government had traded protection in the AMIA case for favorable prices on Iranian oil.
“I am sure he was assassinated by his enemies; he wanted the truth,” said Robert Noriega this week, a former deputy secretary of state for the U.S. Western Hemispheric Affairs division. “I believe the international terrorism situation demands paying attention to this case,” he added.
Six months into the investigation, few leads, save the recent expert testimony, have surfaced. Many have demanded justice and have called for the President and her administration to step down, with little result. The AMIA bombing remains unsolved, with President Fernández de Kirchner denying Nisman’s claims and any involvement in his death. The President has continued to publicly support the Islamic Republic of Iran, however, issuing a statement in favor of the John Kerry-brokered nuclear deal this month.
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