Argentine judge frees the last crew members of the Venezuelan-Iranian plane

the federal judge Federico Villena authorized the departure of Argentina of the last five crew members of the Venezuelan-Iranian plane held under judicial investigation for possible links with the terrorism international, as confirmed by himself to EFE this Friday.

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“I had to make a decision, because the Federal Chamber of La Plata (province of Buenos Aires) gave me a certain term to resolve the situation and I didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute them. I had to dictate the lack of merit”, Villena told EFE.

The magistrate considered that there was not enough evidence to prosecute the crew of the plane Emtrasur for the crime of financing terrorist activities.

The pilot benefited from this measure Gholamreza Ghasemithe flight captain Abdolbaset Mohammadithe reinforcement engineer Saeid Valizadeh and the executives of the Venezuelan company Víctor Manuel Pérez and Mario Arraga Urdaneta.

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These five crew members were the last of a list of 19 people, -5 Iranians and 14 Venezuelans- who on June 6 entered the Argentina on the Boeing 747-300 aircraft with registration YV3531.

The first dozen freed arrived at Venezuela on September 16 and two more on the 30th in the midst of requests for the rest to leave Argentina.

The plane belonged to the Iranian company Mahan Air and is currently in the hands of Emtrasursubsidiary of Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Conviasa)both sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury.

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“We have elements that allow to suspect that there is financing, but not enough to warrant prosecution. That’s why the ‘lack of merit‘, which is an intermediate decision”, added the judge.

The aircraft arrived at Argentinafrom Mexicoafter trying to go to Uruguay to refuel, but had to return because the neighboring country did not allow its landing.

The Argentine oil companiess did not supply fuel to the plane for fear of US sanctions and, later, on June 11, it was reported that the Justice had ordered the immobilization of the aircraft.

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“It should be pointed out that the order by which the lack of merit is decreed to prosecute or dismissing does not imply the conclusion of the case, nor of the investigation. It allows the magistrate to continue the investigative work and to be able to modify such a situation”, explains the judge’s resolution to which EFE agreed.

This means that if there is evidence later, an international capture alert will be issued for the suspects to be investigated again.

But the problem is that both Venezuela What Iran they do not admit the extradition of their citizens, something that could complicate the case.

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“We held them for the reasonable time that is established in a rule of law. The investigation was a success from our perspective and from the perspective of the international community, although the investigation is not closed and continues”, remarked the magistrate.

This case generated a stir in Argentina, a country that suffered two terrorist attacks in the 1990s -against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) and against the Embassy of Israel in Buenos Aires– and the local Justice points to the group Hezbollah and members of the then Iranian government as responsible.

Source: EFE

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.