Argentina’s Supreme Court has permanently closed the case probing alleged espionage on the relatives of the 44 crew-members who died aboard the ARA San Juan submarine, which sank in the South Atlantic in 2017.
The ruling ends all legal proceedings against former president Mauricio Macri, who was head of state when the vessel imploded. Former Federal Intelligence Agency (Agencia Federal de Intelligencia, AFI) director Gustavo Arribas, his deputy Silvia Majdalani and eight former AFI agents.
The decision, issued by Supreme Court judges Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz, and Ricardo Lorenzetti, upholds earlier dismissals and rejects appeals brought by the victims’ families regarding alleged surveillance.
Relatives of the crew had accused intelligence officials of monitoring them between 2017 and 2018 during public demonstrations and religious services demanding answers about the submarine’s disappearance. Court filings alleged that AFI agents collected personal data and tracked social media activity linked to the families.
However, both the Buenos Aires City Federal Court of Appeals and the Criminal Cassation Court ruled that the surveillance did not constitute illegal espionage, concluding it fell within established presidential security protocols.
In 2022, appellate judges Mariano Llorens, Leopoldo Bruglia, and Pablo Bertuzzi overturned an earlier indictment by federal judge Martín Bava, who had accused Macri and his intelligence team of conducting unlawful operations. That decision was later upheld by the Cassation Court’s Division II through judges Guillermo Yacobucci, Ángela Ledesma, and Mariano Borinsky. They found no evidence of abuse of authority or improper interference by the AFI.
The Criminal Cassation Court ruling states that the activities carried out by the Macri administration “formed part of security procedures for the then-president” and that any information gathered was sourced from publicly available media and social networks, not secret operations. It also cautioned about the potential security risks posed by inadequate monitoring of a sitting head of state.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, the dismissal of all charges is now final, closing one of the most politically sensitive legal cases linked to the ARA San Juan tragedy.
The ARA San Juan submarine imploded on November 15, 2017 in the South Atlantic, resulting in the death all 44 crew-members onboard. The disaster shocked Argentina and drew international attention to the naval safety standards.
Families of the victims continue to pursue other legal avenues, including a separate investigation in Santa Cruz Province concerning an alleged breach of public duties by naval officers.
– TIMES/PERFIL
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