The Argentinian police arrested Sunday evening, in Buenos Aires, the companion of the aggressor Thursday of the vice-president Cristina Kirchner, within the framework of the investigation into the attempted attack, while his lawyer said his conviction that the man “did not act alone”.
The 23-year-old young woman, who had been interviewed in the days following the attack by televisions, evoking the suspect Fernando André Sabag Montiel, was arrested at a station in the Palermo district, and placed in police custody, according to judicial sources quoted by several Argentine media, including the official Telam agency. The young woman, Brenda Uliarte, was arrested on the warrant of the magistrate co-in charge of the investigation, María Eugenia Capuchetti.
Failed attack
In the days following the attack, she was notably interviewed by the Telefe channel. She had expressed her surprise and said that she would never have thought her friend capable of such an act, and that while he complained “like everyone else” about the economy, he had never mentioned vice. – President Kirchner “aggressively”. She also said she had not seen him for 48 hours before the incident. Analyzes of video surveillance images would in fact have shown that she had been in his company on the day of the attack, September 1, according to sources close to the investigation quoted by the media.
On Thursday evening, as Cristina Kirchner mingled with supporters outside her home, a man approached her and pointed a pistol at her head, at close range. For some unknown reason, no shot was fired even though the weapon, loaded, was activated, assured President Alberto Fernandez shortly after.
Motivation unknown
The assailant, arrested on the spot, was identified as Fernando André Sabag Montiel, 35, of Brazilian nationality, but living in Argentina since childhood. The man, whose motives are unknown at this stage, has not made a statement since his arrest. In photos on his Instagram account, he appeared to have numerous tattoos, some of which (a black sun, a cross resembling the Iron Cross) associated with Nazi symbolism.
On Sunday, one of Cristina Kirchner’s lawyers felt that he “did not act alone because there were preparatory events for the assassination attempt”. “There were other people who were aware of this situation, without a doubt,” said lawyer Gregorio Dalbon on C5N television, without providing any evidence to support this thesis.
A complaint filed on Monday
“In my opinion, there will be more (accused) because I understand that he did not act alone,” he insisted. However, he had speculated that other people involved “are not public figures, they are like this boy”, seeming to discredit the thesis of a major conspiracy.
The lawyer also confirmed that a complaint would be formally filed on Monday on behalf of Cristina Kirchner, so that, as a civil party, she can access the file and follow the results, suggest clues, experts, or ” to appeal against resolutions that would be prejudicial to it”.
The attack on Cristina Kirchner, 69, a figurehead of the Peronist left, and still influential in the country’s politics seven years after her departure from the presidency, gave rise to demonstrations bringing together tens of thousands of people in a country in shock, and a wave of international condemnation.