Federal Judge Juan Manuel Yalj yesterday dropped charges brought against left-wing railway union leader Rubén Sobrero and four other union members for the alleged arson attacks on Sarmiento railway line carriages, citing a “lack of evidence” in the case.
Sobrero was detained for several days in September this year alongside Hernán Angel Axson, Rodrigo Hernando Peláez and brothers Fernando and Guillermo Díaz for the alleged arson of the railway carriages in May of this year in order to pressurize the TBA train company into aligning employees with his union faction.
Sobrero accused the investigation of being politically motivated and attacked President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s administration of “framing” him. Upon his release from prison — after large protest marches from social and political organizations — Sobrero focused his verbal attack on Cabinet Chef Aníbal Fernández, claiming he was a fugitive during the 1990s in reference to a long since dismissed investigation into Fernández. The Cabinet Chef has since threatened to sue Sobrero for slander and has ordered obligatory mediation.
Yalj ruled there was a lack of evidence to push forward with the case due to “procedural uncertainty” and likewise requested an investigation into the investigating officers’ conduct.
TBA’s general manager Guillermo D’Abenigno testified that Sobrero “used extortsive measures” but said he did not have any proof to link the union leader to the arson investigation. The general manager conceded with Sobrero’s statment which read: “The derailment of the trains which provoked the fire could have been due to the over-use of materials.”
Source: Buenos Aires Herald