Buenos Aires, December 17 (NA) – The Accusations Commission of the Council of the Magistrature today issued new measures in cases against judges Gastón Salmain, Patricio Maraniello, Sandra Arroyo Salgado, and Pablo Díaz Lacava, and heard magistrate Alfredo López in a formal inquiry over antisemitic and xenophobic expressions.
The commission resolved to summon judge Pablo Díaz Lacava of the La Pampa Federal Oral Court under article 20 of the regulations. He is being prosecuted for minor and serious injuries, as well as simple and coercive threats against two judicial employees and four female judicial staff in a context of labor and gender-based violence.
During the same session, exercising his right to defense, the commission heard federal judge Alfredo López of Mar del Plata under article 20. He is accused of making antisemitic and xenophobic statements on his social media.
Additionally, he challenged the deputy who filed the complaint, Sabrina Ajmechet, and alluded to a mockery of 'the Holy Virgin Mary.' He also reaffirmed his right to defend the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands through his social media posts.
In the meeting, the commission also authorized the January judicial recess to advance the processing of the complaints against federal judge of Rosario Gastón Salmain, following the arrival of the latest accusation against the magistrate.
Although not commission members, academic Fernanda Vázquez and judge Diego Barroetaveña also participated, highlighting the commission's work throughout the year and the role of Judge Luis Juez.
This week, the President of the Supreme Court and the Council of the Magistrature, Horacio Rosatti, praised the body's progress in judicial competitions, candidate shortlists, and complaints against judges, stating: "What I find encouraging in recent times is that there is a self-purging capacity within the justice system regarding its bad examples" in an interview with LN+.
A group of prosecutors from that city is investigating him in a case for illicit association, malfeasance, bribery, corruption, and concealment.
According to information obtained by the Argentine News Agency, Salmain is being investigated by the Council for lying on his CV by not disclosing that he had been fired as an employee of the Judicial Branch. Furthermore, as a judge in 2023, he was criminally accused of issuing a precautionary measure in exchange for a bribe, confessed by an informant, of attempting to intervene with security forces regarding the kidnapping of his cell phone, and of irregularly processing pension files.
The commission also authorized the recess in the complaints against the Civil and Commercial Court judge Patricio Maraniello, accused of sexual abuse and workplace harassment, and in the proceeding against Díaz Lacava, with the objective of hearing new witnesses and incorporating documentary evidence.
Moreover, it resolved, with the abstention of Alberto Maques, to grant measures in the proceeding against the federal judge of San Isidro Sandra Arroyo Salgado, promoted by the Kirchnerist bloc for the detention of a militant and her mother following a 'escrache' (public shaming) with manure at the door of then-deputy José Luis Espert's home.
It was ordered to include press clippings in the file while the case was under summary secrecy and to summon Paula Litvachky, executive director of CELS, and Ariel Cejas Meliare, deputy prison prosecutor, to testify.
The session was the last presided over by Luis Juez as head of the Accusations Commission, as next year he will be replaced by lawyer Alberto Maques.
"I always acted proactively, not reactively; my responses were neither harmful nor offensive," said López.
"If in 40 years I have never had accusations of this nature, what has happened? Have I become an antisemite, or has a genocide been exposed in Gaza by the State of Israel?" he asked.
Regarding the nature of the messages that led to his accusation, López stated that he received insults on social media and affirmed: "I should have avoided those responses by exercising the virtue of prudence, but I want to add that judges, as citizens, are also men."
