Prosecutor in Argentina pushes AMIA bombing case toward trial in absentia

Federal prosecutor Sebastián Basso has requested the trial of 10 Iranian and Lebanese citizens accused of involvement in the July 18, 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and injured more than 140.

Basso, head of the AMIA Special Prosecutor’s Unit (UFI-AMIA), also asked the courts to issue an international arrest warrant for a new suspect, Alí Asghar Hejazi, allegedly a senior figure in the Iranian régime whom prosecutors believe played a role in planning the attack.

The filings were submitted Wednesday through a series of rulings sent to federal judge Daniel Rafecas of Federal Court No. 6, marking a new step in the long-running investigation into Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack.

The bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre remains the worst attack in Argentina’s history and has been marked by decades of stalled investigations, diplomatic tensions and unresolved questions over responsibility.

‘Judicial truth’

More than three decades after the attack, “people are still waiting for the judicial truth,” Basso said in an interview with Radio Rivadavia on Thursday.

According to the reconstruction presented by the AMIA Special Prosecutor’s Unit, Hejazi played a central role in the alleged criminal plan as a member of the so-called Vijeh Committee – a covert Iranian state body tasked with gathering intelligence, analysing potential targets and preparing operational details for the attack.

The prosecutor has requested that Hejazi be formally indicted, declared in contempt of court and subjected to an international arrest warrant.

The accusation gained momentum after testimony given in France by four Iranian dissidents whose statements, prosecutors say, provided relevant information to strengthen the case against the new suspect.

Ten suspects

At the same time, the AMIA Special Prosecutor’s Unit reiterated its request to put 10 suspects on trial — individuals who remain fugitives and have been subject to Interpol Red Notices since 2006.

The defendants include former senior Iranian officials Alí Fallahian, the country’s former intelligence minister; Alí Akbar Velayati, former foreign minister; Mohsen Rezai, former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; and Ahmad Vahidi, a former senior figure linked to the Al-Quds Force,

Vahidi, according to non-state media reports in Iran, has recently been named head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Secret meeting

Prosecutors believe several of these officials were members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which allegedly approved the attack during a secret meeting held in August 1993.

Also included are former Iranian diplomats posted in Buenos Aires – Hadi Soleimanpour, Mohsen Rabbani and Ahmad Reza Asghari – whom investigators accuse of forming part of an intelligence network tasked with gathering information on the target and providing logistical support for the operation.

The list is completed by three alleged members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah: Salman Raouf Salman, accused of coordinating the final stage of the attack in Argentina; his brother Abdallah Salman, suspected of managing the funds used to finance the operation; and Hussein Mounir Mouzannar, who allegedly supplied false documentation to facilitate the group’s movements.

In a 201-page filing, Basso argued that the defendants should face charges including aggravated homicide motivated by racial or religious hatred, serious injuries and property damage, as well as participation in or collaboration with an armed organisation pursuing discriminatory objectives.

Tehran accused

According to the prosecutor, the investigation has consolidated the hypothesis that the decision to carry out the attack – along with its financing and political backing – came from the highest levels of the Iranian régime, while the operational execution was carried out by Hezbollah.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office also asked the court to update precautionary liens on assets attributed to the defendants, currently estimated at more than 741 billion pesos, and to use diplomatic and official channels to notify the fugitives of the judicial rulings.

The request comes as the case moves toward the possibility of a trial in absentia, a mechanism introduced into Argentine law under Law 27,784, which allows courts to prosecute suspects who remain abroad and refuse to appear before Argentine justice.

Defence lawyers representing the accused have challenged the constitutionality of the law before the Federal Criminal Cassation Court. 

The objection has already been rejected by both Rafecas and the Buenos Aires Federal Appeals Court and must now be resolved by Chamber II of the country’s highest criminal court.

– TIMES/NA