Background
Alberto Nisman was an Argentine prosecutor. On 18 July 1994, a bomb attack on the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires killed 85 people, the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history. Nisman became special prosecutor on the case in 2004 and in 2006 formally accused Iran of directing the attack and Hezbollah of carrying it out.
What happened
On 14 January 2015, Nisman filed a complaint accusing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman of shielding Iranian suspects and covering up the case. The complaint centred on a 2013 memorandum with Iran that was never ratified.
On 18 January 2015, Nisman was found dead in his apartment in Puerto Madero, a day before he was due to testify before Congress. A .22 calibre pistol was beside him.
Nisman's death opened a debate in Argentina about the relationship between the government and the judiciary and about the role of the intelligence services. Days after his death, tens of thousands of people marched silently in Buenos Aires in his memory. His family has campaigned for years to have the events clarified. The AMIA cases themselves were affected by the episode, and to this day they have not reached a final resolution.
Nisman's death opened a debate in Argentina about the relationship between the government and the judiciary and about the role of the intelligence services. Days after his death, large crowds marched silently in Buenos Aires in his memory. His family has campaigned for years to have the events clarified. The AMIA cases themselves were affected by the episode, and to this day they have not reached a final resolution.
Investigation and legal process
Prosecutor Viviana Fein led the initial inquiry. In 2015 a forensic panel treated the death as suicide. A later report by gendarmerie experts, produced around 2017–2018, concluded it was a homicide, and federal courts adopted that view. His assistant Diego Lagomarsino, who lent him the pistol, is being prosecuted.
Nisman's complaint was dismissed by a judge in 2015, and the wider cover-up case has moved back and forth through different court rulings since. No court has conclusively determined how Nisman died.
Where it stands today
The case remains open. Judge Julián Ercolini is overseeing an inquiry focused on who may have ordered the killing. Nisman's death continues to be a major point of debate in Argentina about trust in the justice system and the unresolved AMIA attack.