San Isidro.- The trial for the death of the legendary football star Diego Armando Maradona in Argentina He was suspended this Tuesday for a week, after one of the judges in charge was questioned for allegedly participating in the production of a documentary about the case.
Prosecutor Patricio Ferrari requested the temporary paralysis of the trial, which has been held since the beginning of March in San Isidro (north of the capital, province of Buenos Aires).
The suspension, which consequently could lead to the annulment of the current trial, has to do with the alleged entry of cameras to the audiences.
From the second hearing it is forbidden to film the judicial instances, so the Prosecutor’s Office must now investigate if this rule was violated and if Judge Julieta Makintach has some kind of relationship with the alleged breach.
In addition, at the Audience on Tuesday, two requests for challenging were presented against Makintach: one for the alleged collusion with the documentaries and another for partiality. Both will be resolved by the court of three judges within a week.
“I am convinced of my impartiality, I will give the explanations of the case,” Makintach said at the end of the audience.
The challenges were presented by the defenses of two of the seven health professionals who face this trial for eventual homicide with intent, a figure that implies that they were aware that their actions could cause the death of the patient.
Considered one of the best players in history, “El Diez” died at 60 on November 25, 2020 in Tigre, municipality of the province of Buenos Aires.
Maradona, winner of the 1986 World Cup with the Argentine and idol team in clubs such as Boca Juniors Local, the Italian Naples and FC Barcelona, among others, died from a pulmonary edema when he received medical attention at home, after a neurological operation to which he had been subjected two weeks before.
If they are found guilty, the accused risk between 8 and 25 years in prison. An eighth nurse will be processed in a separate trial. Everyone defends their innocence.
“Start all from zero”
The complainant lawyers, Diego Baudry and Fernando Burlando, filed the complaint asking that the situation around the alleged documentary be investigated, accusing the possible commission of several criminal crimes.
These would be “violation of the duties of a public official, abuse of authority, revelation of secrets or privileged information, prevaricate in case the duty of impartiality, influence peddling and, eventually, bribery,” says the complaint to which the AFP accessed.
At the end of the audience on Tuesday, Makintach expressed his desire that all parties be informed of the resulting research. “To denounce a judge you have to have founded reasons,” he said.
And he did not rule out the court on his own. “In case there is something in danger, it may be the one that surpasses me,” warned the judge.
The opinions were diverse on the future of the trial in case Makintach left his place. Among the options are to add a new judge and continue as until now, continue with a single magistrate or withdraw the three judges, as the AFP told several defense and complainant lawyers.
All parties shared the concern of having to restart the process. Nicolás D’Abora, defender of the Medical Coordinator of the domiciliary hospitalization of Maradona, Nancy Forlini, said during the audience that “if Dr. Makintach is departed, you have to start from scratch.”
Throughout the process, in which until now they declared more than 40 witnesses and one of the accused, the psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, the complainant has criticized the relevance of interrupting Maradona at his home after his operation, as well as the conditions of the place and attention provided.
Several witnesses described him as a dreary scenario for home hospitalization and said that Maradona was treated in a dirty room, messy and without adequate medical equipment.
