Argentina’s ex-spy chief says Nisman was murdered

BUENOS AIRES — Former Argentinian spy chief Antonio Stiuso testifies that he believes AMIA bombing prosecutor Alberto Nisman “was killed” and that he is sure former president Cristina Kirchner “impeded” the investigation into the deadly 1994 bombing of Buenos Aires’s AMIA Jewish community center.

Stiuso aided Nisman in the AMIA bombing investigation, and in closed-door testimony given to a judge Monday he said Nisman had been murdered, local news site Infobae quots judicial sources saying.

Stiuso delivered the 16-hour testimony to Judge Fabiana Palmaghini, who declared herself unfit to continue to head the investigation immediately afterward.

With her recusal, the case will go to federal court.

Nisman was found shot dead in his apartment on January 18, 2015. Days earlier, he had accused then president Kirchner of helping Iranian officials cover up Iran’s role in the AMIA bombing, in which 85 people were killed. The case against Kirchner was later thrown out.

Nisman tried to contact Stiuso four times by telephone the day before he was found dead. Stiuso said in a statement to a prosecutor last year that he never heard the calls.

Stiuso fled Argentina shortly after that, complaining of threats on his life. He had failed to comply with a summons ordering him to testify until now.

At the time, Kirchner suggested Nisman was killed by rogue intelligence agents, though she gave no evidence. She also said that Stiuso fed false information to Nisman and even had a hand in writing the late prosecutor’s report detailing the accusations against her.

Stiuso oversaw a widespread wire-tapping operation before he was removed as head of Argentina’s spy agency in December 2014.

— Ilan Ben Zion with AP