The Upper House of Congress preliminary approved the Iran accord to investigate the 1194 AMIA Jewish Community centre bombing by 39 votes in favour and 32 against.
The Kirchnerite Upper House’s bloc mustered quorum, and the Senate began the debate on the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Argentina and Iran to try to advance in the investigation of the 1994 AMIA Jewish Community Centre which left 85 dead.
Senators rapidly remarked the absence of former president Carlos Menem, charged for having allegedly participated in the covering up of suspects.
The first to take the floor for the ruling party was Senator Daniel Filmus, who defended the memo, saying that «the purpose of the memorandum is to ensure that there is no impunity».
«We believe it is necessary to unlock the case, the easiest thing would be to leave everything as it is,» said the legislator, after which he refused to agree that behind the bilateral accord are economic interests with the Islamic country.
The government yesterday called for the opposition to refrain from “tangling the debate” over the accord with Iran to jointly investigate the 1994 AMIA terrorist attack. Senator Marcelo Fuentes will lead the government’s defence of the accord at the preliminary debate in the Lower House today, which will almost inevitably clear the bill to be voted.
The senator described the opposition yesterday as “torturers of the letter of the law” due to their perceived “interpretation of things that are not present” in the bill. Fuentes recognized the text “goes against the policy of isolation” against Iran, but emphasized the aim is to “propel a case involving a horrific crime against humanity, not only against Argentina, that has been paralyzed.”
The pro-government Radical (UCR) representative alleged opposition legislators have been questioning elements of the bill “without openly acknowledging that they are functional to a strategy” of foreign policy commanded by “the international community.”
buenosairesherald.com