The Jewish Chronicle
On this day: Buenos Aires bomb suspects charged
October 25 2006: Iran charged over Argentina bomb
October 25, 2010 08:01
October 25 2006: Iran charged over Argentina bomb
October 25, 2010 08:01It has been described as the “most complex case in Argentina’s judicial history". Twelve years after bombers struck a Jewish community centre in Argentina, charges were finally brought.
More than 80 people were killed and hundreds were wounded when the Buenos Aires Jewish-Argentine Mutual Association (AMIA) community centre was car-bombed. The building, seven floors tall, was reduced to rubble.
The case has been surrounded by conspiracy theories, and whispers of a cover-up involving the former Argentine president Carlos Menem. Some claimed that the bombers were enacting revenge for Argentina’s decision to suspend a nuclear deal with Iran.
In 2004 five people were acquitted in connection with the attack amidst accusations of witness bribery and a botched investigation. Carlos Telleldín, a former mechanic who was suspected of providing the explosives-filled van to the bombers, was allegedly paid $400,000 to testify falsely against local suspects.
