Buenos Aires, August 4 (RHC)-- The Argentine Ministry of Security has filed a complaint against former officials of the same ministry and authorities of the National Gendarmerie for alleged irregularities and cover-ups in the disappearance of Santiago Maldonado on August 1, 2017, according to state agency Télam.
Maldonado, 28, was found dead 78 days after a crackdown during a protest by the Mapuche community Pu Lof Cushamen in Chubut province in the south of the country.
The accusation is against Pablo Nocetti, the chief of staff of the ministry then headed by Patricia Bullrich, during the administration of Mauricio Macri, and two Gendarmerie authorities: former National Director Gerardo Otero and General Commander Ernesto Oscar Robino, both retired from the force.
All of them were denounced for the alleged commission of the crime of non-compliance and violation of the duties of a public official due to a series of irregularities and an alleged cover-up of what the family of Maldonado continues to consider a 'forced disappearance'.
According to the accusation, based on a 600-page report received by the current Minister of Security, Sabina Fréderic, from the Gendarmerie, Nocetti and the troops in charge of the repressive operation failed to comply with a court order, which so far did not endorse a clearing of National Route 40, which was blocked by the demonstrators.
The days of the search for Santiago Maldonado were marked by strong demands from human rights organizations and social protests, in the midst of a tense political dispute between the opposition and the government, accused of being responsible for the loss and a new "disappearance in democracy.
After several search operations, the body of the young man was found in a river on October 17, 2017, which reinforced the hypothesis of the government of the time, which separated responsibility from its officials and pointed out that Maldonado had drowned, fleeing from the repression because he could not swim.
This Saturday, a new demonstration was held in Buenos Aires to demand justice for the tattooist and artisan, which ended with several arrests and accusations of abuse of authority against the City Police, which is still under the management of the macrismo.
