19 Feb 2015

Argentinians march over prosecutor’s death

Tens of thousands take to the streets of Buenos Aires to demand justice for the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who had accused the government of whitewashing investigations of a 1994 explosion.

Tens of thousands of protesters marched peacefully through the Argentine capital, demanding an independent judiciary, as the country reels from the death of a state prosecutor who had been investigating the president.

Read Kylie Morris' blog: Key questions: Argentina's prosecutor and the president

The protest, one of the biggest during President Cristina Fernandez’s seven years in power, took place a month after a state prosecutor who had accused Fernandez of plotting to cover up his investigation into a 1994 bombing was found dead.

Fernandez has denied the allegations, but her administration has struggled to confront a growing political crisis.

Two of Nisman’s fellow prosecutors joined the massive march as protesters waved placards reading “Truth” and “Justice” while others held posters saying “I am Nisman.”

The march was organised by a group of prosecutors who said the rally was to honour Nisman and was not politically motivated.

Nisman had accused Iran of being behind a 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires and alleged Fernandez had conspired with the Tehran government to whitewash his investigations in return for economic favours, accusations which Fernandez has called “absurd”.

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