Searching for Justice in Argentina

An Argentinian judge, for the first time, has ruled that Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor shot to death while probing a high-level coverup in the nation’s deadliest terrorist attack, was murdered.

Actually, it was long obvious that Nisman — found shot to death on the eve of delivering explosive testimony implicating then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — didn’t commit suicide as authorities claimed.

But Judge Julian Ercolini’s 656-page decision marks a legal milestone in the rapidly unfolding case stemming from the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center in which 85 were killed and 300 wounded.

Nisman was found dead just as he was set to accuse Kirchner and her foreign minister of whitewashing Iran’s high-level involvement in the attack in return for a lucrative secret trade deal with Tehran.

Kirchner’s investigators claimed Nisman died at his own hands — a result thoroughly rejected by a police dossier.

Kirchner herself faces charges of treason over the alleged coverup of the bombing, though the Argentinian Senate, where she now serves, may not agree to strip her of political immunity from criminal charges.

All this finally is vindicating the work that Nisman courageously pursued. Hopefully, those who tried to silence his voice will eventually be brought to justice.

But it’s also important to note that no one has yet been charged for the horrific event that led to Nisman’s betrayal and death in the first place — i.e., the bombing itself.

It would be less than full justice if only those who perpetrated the coverup were held to account. Iran and its agents must also be made to pay.