The oral criminal court to try the eight health professionals accused of the death of sport idol Diego Maradona, on November 25, 2020, has been assigned.
The case was assigned to Oral Criminal Court No. 3 in San Isidro, comprising two judges and a third one who must be appointed, according to court sources. The date of the trial has yet to be set.
A court of appeals resolved in April that brain surgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and six other defendants, all free, were to be tried for “homicide with potential intent” and faces sentences of between 8 to 25 years in prison.
Trial court judge Orlando Díaz validated the report of the Prosecutor’s Office which had considered the medical care received by Maradona, aged 60, as “reckless” and “deficient."
Maradona, acknowledged as one of the biggest stars in the history of football and a symbol of the Argentine national team, died while convalescing from surgery of a brain haematoma caused by a household accident.
The death happened when the captain of the winning team in the 1986 Mexico World Cup was under medical care at home, in a gated community in Tigre.
European court
The European General Court (EGC) backed on Tuesday the decision by the bloc’s Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to deny the registration of the assignment of rights to the Diego Maradona brand to a private company.
The firm Sattvica and the football star himself had requested in 2001 the registration of the brand in the EU, before the EUIPO, which was made effective in 2008.
However, in 2021, the year after the former footballer died, Sattvica requested the EUIPO to register the assignment of rights in its favour, which the office rejected in March 2022 due to lack of documentation.
Sattvica subsequently asked the EGC to nullify the EUIPO’s decision, but on Tuesday the court affirmed the judgment.
“The EGC dismisses Sattvica’s motion. It affirms the judgement of the EUIPO”, the court stated in a press release.
“The documents provided in support of the request for registration of assignment do not justify it to the benefit of such company”, the document summarised.
This decision by the EGC may be appealed before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the highest court of the bloc.
The case pits Sattvica officers against Maradona’s heirs, particularly his daughters Dalma and Gianina.
In September 2021, an Argentine court had dismissed a motion filed by Dalma and Gianina Maradona against Sattvica for the use of the “Maradona brand”.
Sattvica is a company with offices in Buenos Aires, and is headed by the lawyer of the former footballer, Matías Morla, who holds that the star himself gave him a power-of-attorney to represent the brand.
Maradona obtained in 2008 a trademark with his own name for clothing, footwear, accommodation and computer services.
– TIMES/AFP
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