Oct. 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Argentine Justice has released the last five crew members of the Venezuelan-Iranian plane held since June at the Ezeiza International Airport, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
The ruling by federal judge Federico Villena published this Friday determines that there is no consistent evidence to prosecute them for carrying out activities linked to terrorism, according to the official Argentine news agency Télam.
The resolution affects the Iranians Gholamreza Ghasemi –pilot of the aircraft–, Abdolbaset Mohammadi, Saeid Valizadeh and the Venezuelans Víctor Manuel Pérez and Mario Arraga Urdaneta. Likewise, the judge ordered the return of his travel documents and ordered the precautionary measure that weighs on the aircraft registration YV3531 of the Emtrasur company to remain in effect.
Likewise, the judge has ordered the return of his travel documents and has ordered the precautionary measure that weighed on the aircraft, registration number YV3531 of the Emtrasur company, to remain in effect.
The crew members were being investigated following a request from the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), which accused the Emtrasur company of diverting funds to finance terrorist activities.
“When the elements of judgment do not authorize the issuance of the indictment and, at the same time, they do not have the authority to rule out the existence of the act, its criminal nature or the responsibility of the accused –which would make its dismissal appropriate– the judge must dispose of the lack of merit”, concludes the ruling.
The accusation stated that the plane could have been used to make trips between Syria and Iran through an airline linked to the Lebanese party-militia Hezbollah, but the judge considers that there are no elements to prosecute the crew.
The judge explains that so far 118 pieces of evidence have been collected in the file and has recalled that there are still procedures that must be completed such as letters rogatory sent to Spain, Aruba, the Dominican Republic and Paraguay, and an accounting expert opinion.
