Trial against Alperovich: the sentence will be known after 8 p.m.

Four and a half years have passed since a complaint shook national politics. A woman, in a heartbreaking message, accused the three-time governor and then senator, José Alperovich, of multiple sexual abuses occurred between December 2017 and December 2018. The young woman, whose identity is kept confidential to protect her, assured that the abuses took place both in this province and in Buenos Aires, during her trips to perform duties in the National Congress.

Alperovich, who never resigned from his position nor was he pressured by his political space to do so, fulfilled his mandate and used his parliamentary privileges in an attempt to transfer the cause to Tucumán. The complaint, however, left the province with the intervention of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Violence against Women, in charge of Mariela Labozzettaand the prosecutor Santiago Vismaradeveloping in the national Justice.

The trial against Alperovich began on February 5 and has seen dozens of witnesses paraded in weekly hearings. Alperovich, 69, testified several times accompanied by his daughter Sara and other members of his campaign team, including the close circle in which the complainant was also part.

“I did not abuse her, that is a lie. I am a man of almost 70 years old,” Alperovich stated. The complainant is the daughter of her first cousin, and although the media referred to her as her niece, Alperovich clarified: “They are titles that are given, they say she is my niece but she never called me uncle and I never called her niece.” .

During the defense witness stage, the trial prosecutor, Sandro Abraldesand the plaintiff lawyers, Pablo Rovatti y Carolina Cymerman, from the Legal Assistance and Sponsorship Program for Victims of Crimes of the General Defender of the Nation (DGN), requested that three witnesses be charged with false testimony.

These witnesses are Manuel FriasAlperovich’s waiter during the 2017-2019 electoral campaign; Victor Hugo Decataldo, transportation businessman and partner of Alperovich’s daughter, Sara; and David Cayatta, Alperovich’s former custodian and driver. The situation of these witnesses must be defined this Tuesday.

The verdict

Prosecutor Abraldes requested a sentence of 16 years and 6 months in prison for Alperovich, considering him criminally responsible for the crimes of sexual abuse, including three attempted abuses and six acts of aggravated sexual violence.

The complaint, for its part, demanded a sentence of 22 years in prison and has requested that, if convicted, Alperovich be detained immediately in Oral Court No. 29, located at 1,500 Paraguay Street, in the federal capital, without waiting that the sentence remains final.

Abraldes went further, requesting preventive detention and police custody for Alperovich to avoid the risk of escape. According to the prosecutor, Alperovich has the resources, money and power to evade and escape justice. Judge Juan Ramos Padilla granted this request, and Alperovich was in police custody for the last eight days.

Thus, with all this, at 8 p.m. the verdict will be known that could mark a milestone in the fight against gender violence and abuse of power in Argentine politics. Alperovich’s last words this afternoon were: “I am not going to speak, Mr. Judge.”