One month after Alberto Nisman’s death, his colleagues, judicial employees, and perhaps as many as 300,000 Argentineans plan to march together in central Buenos Aires at 5 p.m. local time (-3 GMT). They will pay tribute to the prosecutor, and ask for clarity in the circumstances surrounding his death.
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The march will set out from the capital’s National Congress, and participants will proceed the two kilometers to the symbolic center of the nation, the Plaza de Mayo, before the Casa Rosada presidential Palace.
Leading the procession will be members of the judiciary, bearing an Argentinean flag and a white banner with the legend: “March of silence, 18F Homage to prosecutor Nisman.” Among the front ranks will also be the prosecutor’s ex-wife, judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, and their eldest daughter. Next in line will be political leaders and members of the public.
The prosecutors who convened the march are, among others, José María Campagnoli, Guillermo Marijuan, Ricardo Sáenz, and Germán Moldes. The invitation to participate has also been extended to overseas judicial officials.
“We have the conviction that the march is going to be huge,” Attorney General Ricardo Sáenz said in a radio interview Monday. “We’re seeing many people joining. We planned to pay tribute to Nisman, and we’re finding that many people want to do so in this way.”
The march will end with a minute of silence in memory of the prosecutor, who died in uncertain circumstances a month ago, followed by applause. Organizers have discouraged the presence of political-party slogans, banners, or speeches from opposition parties.
“There could be provocations, I suspect, and in the face of that possibility, no agent with the Federal Police, or at Prefecture, Metropolitan, or [National Guard] level, will carry any kind of weapon,” signaled Security Secretary Sergio Berni.
According to the estimates of Ricardo Pedace, sub-chief of the Metropolitan Police, some 300,000 people are expected to attend the march. The demonstration will also be replicated in every province in the country, as well as in over 20 cities worldwide, including Miami (the United States), Montevideo (Uruguay), Paris (France), and São Paulo (Brazil).
https://twitter.com/VVperiodistas/status/567513210715377664
“Argentina to witness a day of marches this February 18, one month after the killing of prosecutor Nisman.”
The march can be followed on social networks with the hashtags #18F and #VoyALaMarcha.
New Evidence Emerges
Fresh clues continue to surface over the suspicious discovery of Nisman’s lifeless body one month ago in the bathroom of his apartment in the exclusive Puerto Madero neighborhood, Buenos Aires.
On the night of Tuesday, February 17, the city’s attorney general confirmed that a witness who has complained of irregularities at the scene of Nisman’s death is to receive police protection.
According to Natalia Fernández, 26, upon arriving at the scene, investigating officers were being careless with the evidence. She asserts they they were using the bathroom and highlighting the papers on the prosecutor’s death.
“They were drinking mate and asking for croissants. There were about 50 people there. The prosecutor [Viviana Fein] asked: ‘Shall we wrap up here and carry on tomorrow?'” Fernández reported.
“There were around 25 files. They were reading every page, making a summary, and they made me sign [them],” she added.
“The porter [another public witness] sat down next to me. I started to cry. I was dying from fatigue, and he offered me a coffee. And the coffee was from the cafetière that was on the table next to papers. It was Nisman’s coffee-maker,” Fernández concluded.
Translated by Laurie Blair. Edited by Fergus Hodgson.