Former Argentine president Mauricio Macri has been charged with illegal spying in a case related to his government’s surveillance of grief-stricken families of a missing submarine’s crew.
Federal Judge Martíni Bava supported the indictment on Wednesday, saying that Macri was responsible for an online surveillance campaign on the relatives of the San Juan submarine sailors, who asked the government to continue searching for the submarine that went missing in November 2017.
The judge sequestered 100 million pesos (around $1 million) from Macri and banned him from leaving Argentina, local media reported, citing judicial sources. The defendant “led an unlawful spying” campaign targeting people affected by “one of the greatest tragedies” that occurred during his time in office, seeking to be in the loop of “movements” and “claims” they made, a 171-page court ruling seen by Infobae said.
Surveillance was allegedly conducted between December 2017 and the end of 2018. The former president supposedly initiated it because he was concerned about how the whole San Juan case could “affect the image of government.”
Macri’s lawyers said they would appeal this decision. The former president has repeatedly called the process political and said that his prosecution was linked to the legislative elections that were held in mid-November.
Earlier, an Argentinian court also charged two former top officials of Argentina’s Federal Intelligence Agency, arguing that they could not have been unaware of the spying campaign and most likely had a hand in it.
The ARA San Juan (S-42) vanished in November 2017. The search for the diesel-electric submarine started immediately, involving ships and aircraft manned by personnel from 13 countries. After 15 days of the operation, the navy decided to end it. In late 2018, it was discovered “imploded” and lying at the bottom of the sea at a depth of 800 meters. The tragedy took the lives of all 44 sailors on board.
Macri could face a potential prison sentence of up to ten years if found guilty.
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Anyone who refuses to get vaccinated will face monthly fines of 100 euros, or roughly $114. The monthly fine is substantial for retirees — the average pension is 730 euros a month.
(Image credit: Sakis Mitroldis /AFP via Getty Images)
The recent emergence of the highly transmissible omicron variant presents another potential hurdle as the tourism industry prepares for the upcoming winter holiday season.
Protesters in Sudan were met with tear gas as they marched in the country’s capital Khartoum on Tuesday. They told RT they want the nation to return to full civilian rule after the military seized power in October.
Security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters that chanted “Soldiers belong in the barracks,” demanding the return to full civilian authority.
“These are all young voices protesting against this government. They want a civilian government,” a man attending the rally told RT’s Murad Gazdiev.
Another man claimed that security forces “kill people,” who want “peace [and] justice.”
Reuters cited Sudanese media as saying that some protesters tried to cross security barriers, and 44 people were arrested, including 18 minors, who were returned to their families.
In 2019, the Sudanese army overthrew Omar al-Bashir, the country’s leader of more than 25 years. The military staged another coup last October, ousting civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
Hamdok was reinstated as PM on November 21 after signing a power-sharing deal with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who led a coup against him. Hamdok agreed to form a technocratic interim government that will function until the elections, scheduled for July 2023. Al-Burhan, who now serves as the chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, promised not to run for political office during the 2023 vote.
Several large-scale rallies have been held in Khartoum and other cities since the October coup. Protesters insist that Hamdok has betrayed the will of the people by cooperating with the coup leader.
Pro-military protests were also held before the coup, with attendees calling on the army to dissolve the government.
Hamdok said his cabinet will focus on completing “the transition to democracy,” and prepare the country for elections.
According to reports, at least 43 people have been killed since the protests began.
