News of jail

Ex-banker who paid FIFA bribes avoids prison by aiding crackdown

12-05-2023 12:56 Argentine sports marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco, who admitted paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to corrupt Latin American football officials, spared from prison after serving as star witness in FIFA-gate trial.

CRIME & SECURITY

Around 4% of Argentina’s prison population serving life terms

23-02-2023 11:17 According to data from 2021, there were 55,933 convicts jailed nationwide, of whom 2,489 were sentenced to life imprisonment, according to national statistics. Of these, 726 are serving their sentences in Buenos Aires provincial penitentiaries, where the eight individuals recently sentenced for the murder of Fernando Báez Sosa are now being detained.

by Nadia Galán

DRUG-TRAFFICKING

Russian court jails four in 2018 Argentine embassy luggage cocaine case

20-01-2022 14:36 A Russian court on Thursday sentenced four men to lengthy jail terms for trying to smuggle nearly 400 kilogrammes of cocaine in suitcases from the Russian Embassy in Argentina.

JUDICIAL SCANDAL IN CHUBUT

Judge faces disciplinary action after allegedly kissing inmate serving life term

04-01-2022 15:59 Judge Mariel Suárez accused of kissing inmate her court jailed the previous week during prison visit. She denies having a "sentimental relationship" with the inmate and that she went to see him because she is "doing a book on his story."

Latin America's jails

More than 100 dead in Ecuador's latest prison violence

30-09-2021 15:55 The death toll from bloody clashes between rival gangs in an Ecuador prison reached 116, with nearly 80 more wounded, President Guillermo Lasso said Wednesday.

BOLIVIAN POLITICAL UNREST

Bolivia ex-leader Áñez tried to 'take her own life' in prison, says lawyer

22-08-2021 08:44 Bolivia's former interim president, right-wing leader Jeanine Áñez, tried to "self-injure" herself in the prison where she is being held and has "scratches" on her arm, but her health is stable.

Political crisis in Venezuela

Venezuela frees key opposition leader accused of treason, terrorism

16-08-2021 10:17 Key Venezuelan opposition figure released just days after the start of new talks between the opposition and government.

CORRUPTION & THE COURTS

Former vice-president Amado Boudou granted parole

23-07-2021 15:33 Argentina’s former vice-president, jailed for crimes related to the irregular acquisition of a major money-printing firm, granted parole after serving two-thirds of his 70-month prison sentence.