A witness on the corruption case involving Vice-President Amado Boudou over the bankruptcy of the Ciccone printing company left the country after receiving threats.
José Guillermo Capdevila, the former Director of Legal Matters at the Economy Ministry, was called to testify on the Ciccone case in March 2012, as he had advised then-Economy Minister Boudou not to get involved in the process of lifting the company’s bankruptcy.
Upon leaving, Capdevila published an open letter in several newspapers, detailing that he suffered threats to himself “by two unknown people on the street” and that members of his family were followed by vehicles several times. “What I want to be known,” the letter continued, “is that no one within the government, or the judiciary, or the security forces, or the opposition has got in contact with me to offer support and much less protection of any kind (those whose job it is to provide it), as it should be done with a threatened (so-called key) witness in a case of such institutional relevance.”
Finally, he informed he had left the country by his own means, hoping to return to give testimony once more -he was called back this month- “when the safety conditions are met.”
Boudou’s lawyer, Diego Pirota, said that if Capdevila effectively received threats, “it’s clear that what they’re asking is that he testifies against Boudou.” According to the lawyer, Capdevila’s statement from 2012 “is one of the most important statements the defence of Amado Boudou has, because it strongly supports our claim.” When tax agency AFIP requested Boudou’s opinion on the Ciccone bankruptcy case, said Pirota, “Boudou replied that he had no authority to give his opinion and that they should act according to their powers and, in any case, he suggested what’s the national economic policy in terms of bankrupt companies. (…) Capdevila advised Boudou to do what he did and he even validated this with a signature on the letter that the minister then sent the president of AFIP.”
The prosecutor working on the case, Jorge Di Lello, said Capdevila’s statement was “semi-neutral” and called the threats he received “deplorable”. Chief of Cabinet Jorge Capitanich, talking on behalf of the government, said the witness should have requested protection from the judge.
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