Zaffaroni: Contamination of Courts with party politics tarnish Judicial branch

Ex Justice Eugenio Zaffaroni (file photo.)

Former Justice Eugenio Zaffaroni questioned the prosecutors and judges that organized the silent rally for late AMIA prosecutor Alberto Nisman on February 18 and agreed with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s allegations against the Judiciary for launching a political battle.

He condemned the contaminations of the Courts with party politics and said “it is tarnishing the entire Judicial branch” by “discrediting it before the public.” However, Zaffaroni pointed out that “most judges have nothing to do” with it.

The ex Justice also rejected the remarks by Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricardo Lorenzetti who said that the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 was “case closed.”

“I remember that a relative (of the Embassy’s victims) came to us concerned about the possible expiration of the case but we (the Supreme Court) have ruled unanimously that since there was no definit ruling, the case remained opened and it could not expire,” he explained.

Zaffaroni also referred to the investigation on Nisman’s death and praised federal prosecutor Viviana Fein. “I think she is doing a good job,” he said, although he pointed out that she is just “not used to speaking in fron of ten TV cameras.”

He also hailed Judge Daniel Rafecas’ decision to dismiss Nisman’s complaint against the president and top government officials –recently appealed by prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita-, which he said had not been written by Nisman himself.

“(Nisman’s) writ is very repetitive (…) Someone with experience does not repete that much, it is a ‘copy and paste’ made with a computer,” Zaffaroni said. “Nisman was a man of the trade, he did not do it or summarized it,” he stated.