Alberto Nisman Death: Argentine prosecutor Homicide 'Indisputable'; Prosecution Moves Forward Under Macri Term

A major development in the spy-novel plot worth case of Alberto Nisman: top Argentine officials are finally treating the prosecutor’s death as a murder, The Guardian reports. Nisman died just hours before he was set to formally accuse the administration then-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of covering up the murder of 85 Argentines in a 1994 terrorist attack in Buenos Aires. The decision to consider Nisman’s death a homicide came a year after the late prosecutor was found dead in his study with a bullet wound to the head and a firearm nearby.

The homicide findings also come less than months after president Mauricio Macri was sworn in at the Casa Rosa on December 10, 2015. Under the previous president Fernández de Kirchner, many of the documents related to the case were classified. Macri, who represents a political party opposing that of Kirchner’s, moved to declassify the documents as well as free up key witnesses including intelligence officials who were prohibited from speaking with investigator, according to El Pais.

Argentine prosecutor Ricardo Sáenz ruled the death of Nisman a homicide citing the absence of gunpowder on his hands. The findings mark the first official recognition of foul play in a case that has been rife with competing theories about the nature of Nisman’s death. Accusations flew that police had contaminated the crime scene. A private investigation by forensics experts, overseen by Nisman’s ex-wife, found that the late prosecutor was executed while on his knees, implying that his body later moved.

We still don’t know exactly how or why Nisman died, but this latest development signals that the case is moving forward. When we first reported on the mysterious death, we asked 5 questions such as “Did the Iranian or Syrian government bomb the Buenos Aires Jewish community Community Center in 1994?” and “Did Nisman commit suicide?” Now, for at least one of those we seem to have a conclusive answer: Alberto Nisman was murdered.