The macrista operator Fabián Rodríguez Simón adds probabilities of being extradited. An appellate court in Uruguay rejected his refugee claim because, it considered, “he is not in a situation of lack of protection that merits recognizing him as a refugee, as his fears were unfounded and it was appreciated that the judicial requirements of the Argentine Republic that fall on his person, they are not arbitrary or illegitimate, on the contrary, they are related to the activity of the competent judicial function in a sovereign and democratic State”. His defense anticipated that he will file an appeal, which will continue to delay the process. But his intention to be protected by the neighboring country has already suffered three forceful rejections: the first was from the Refugee Commission (CORE) that issued a report that, although it was not binding, was collected by the first instance criminal judge , Adriana Chamsarian, and by the judgment of the court of appeals, which is from last month but is now known. Everyone agrees that there are no arguments to suppose that he is politically persecuted but rather that he is being tried for common crimes and is simply trying to avoid being held accountable in court.
An unusual example
The Uruguayan ruling, to which he agreed Page 12, It contains some novel data that Rodríguez Simón tried to introduce to insist that Uruguay give him refugee status. To support his theory that he is being persecuted and that there is a possibility that he will be deprived of his freedom, “Pepín” brought as an example the prosecution of Mauricio Macri, involved in the case for espionage on the relatives of the crew members of the ARA San Juan , as if it were another persecuted. But the court of appeals interpreted it the other way around and responded: “It is not appreciated that such an event could mean a fact that serves as circumstantial or that corroborates the factual platform set forth in the request, but instead reflects the rule of law and the procedural guarantees enjoyed in the country of the applicant, where a former President of the Nation, an official who, according to the function performed, cannot fail to be considered high investiture, chose to remain at the disposal of the justice of his country and submit in process…” The message is that Rodríguez Simón could have made legal challenges in the Buenos Aires courts, but instead he fled.
Rodríguez Simón is being investigated by Judge María Servini in a case for threats and extortion of Grupo Indalo shareholders. Macri is also charged in that file, as well as businessmen and AFIP officials, among others. But it is a case where there are no detainees. The operator of the former president went to Uruguay on December 8, 2020. He told CORE to try to convince its members that he planned to set up a bookstore bar in Barra de Maldonado in Punta del Este. He told them his story in the PRO, pointed out that he was only Macri’s lawyer for the Panama Papers and when he filed an injunction for the change of command in 2015, but clarified that he was a “trusted lawyer within the framework of his government.” . As is known, he had an office in the Casa Rosada, although he did not have a position (he was only director of YPF). He said that he often traveled to Uruguay as a Mercosur parliamentarian as well. He had a ticket to return to Buenos Aires in May 2021, but on the 6th of that month he showed up to ask for asylum. Servini had already called him in for questioning and he never came back. He then requested his international capture and his extradition.
Prisoner of his words
The Uruguayan court of appeals ruled by a majority of two votes (of judges Alberto Reyes Oehninger and Sergio Torres Collazo) for refusing to give him refuge. Graciela Gatti Santana voted in dissent. The vote that she defined supports and quotes Judge Chamsarian’s decision several times. They recalled something she stated: “The applicant’s fear would not correspond to a well-founded fear of persecution under the terms of the 1951 Convention or Law No. 18,076, and there would be no risk of undue deprivation of liberty or security. staff in their country of origin…”
In a section of the sentence, they give their opinion on Servini’s performance –by analyzing the statement in absentia, the request for his arrest, and the processing of the case– and support it as follows: “The resolution of the Argentine Magistrate does not reveal a clear and gross illegitimacy or arbitrariness…”. The judges say about the ending that “there is a picture of high conflict in the requesting State” where Rodríguez Simón is subject “to investigation” but his “pretrial detention” was not arranged, with which the “forecasts” that he attributes to ” highest hierarchies of political power”, are not consistent with the real situation nor do they collaborate with the hypothesis of a possible arrest (which if it happened now would be due to their state of rebellion and the extradition process). The ruling discards the allusions to Macri and some theories that the operator tried to test, invoking even the mobilizations against the Supreme Court, which, coincidentally, is made up of his friend Carlos Rosenkrantz, with whom he exchanged 59 calls in the investigated period.
“At the moment, the first instance and the CORE agree that from the appellant’s statements and the incorporated documentary evidence –which includes multiple queries and reports from the so-called independent press–, it does not follow that the Judicial Power of its country persecutes him and/or does not offer him minimum guarantees to defend himself”, say the majority position. And they include a paragraph where they show that “Pepín”‘s own arguments turn against him, when he uses an alleged media campaign against him as an argument: “It is enough to consider that the applicant, a lawyer by profession with extensive experience in the activity and function Despite having and being aware of the legal instruments he had to denounce and defend his honor, he did not go to any of these mechanisms, because as he declared before the CORE ‘these are the rules of politics, I actively participated in trials for the freedom of the press, harassment is one of the burdens of politics’”.
What will come
Rodríguez Simón will continue to escalate with claims before the Uruguayan courts, now with a Cassation appeal. His outlook is not easy, due to the chain of rejections obtained since last year. The government of Luis Lacalle Pou, however, has been tolerant until now and the defense of “Pepín” takes the opportunity to continue delaying the times, perhaps as a bet on a different political scenario in 2023 in Argentina. Meanwhile, he continues in his position as a Mercosur parliamentarian: although there was an opinion to dismiss him for “moral inability and lack of decorum for the position for which he was elected”, the plenary decided to return the file to the Budget and Affairs Commission Internal to add elements. The new Uruguayan sentence adds arguments for his disassociation from Parlasur.