BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th October, 2021) Argentine President Alberto Fernandez has relieved former leader Mauricio Macri from the duty to keep secret intelligence data so he can testify in court in the case of alleged espionage on the relatives of the sailors that died in the San Juan submarine incident.
"To relieve Mauricio Macri from the obligation to keep secret and confidential data," the presidential decree, obtained by Sputnik, reads.
The case against Macri was opened September last year over the surveillance that the country's intelligence agency allegedly conducted on the families of the dead sailors during his term. He was summoned by the court for testifying in early October, but the hearing had to be postponed twice to October 28 as Macri failed to attend.
On Thursday, Macri was also unable to testify in the case, as the court did not have permission to exempt the politician from keeping classified information. The permission was given by President Fernandez.
Communication with the San Juan submarine was lost on November 15, 2017, while its was en route from Ushuaia naval base to Mar del Plata. At the time of the last communication, the submarine reported an accident. There were 44 people on board, including the first female submariner in Argentina, Eliana Maria Kravchik. Naval officials reported a single explosion that may have caused the disappearance of the San Juan.
The submarine was discovered only a year later, exactly where the Argentine Naval specialists originally suggested its location might be.
