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Buenos Aires Argentina’s former head of state Mauricio Macri (2015-19) has been charged with illegal spying in connection with the submarine ARA San Juan, which sank in 2017. Federal judge Martin Bava did not order pre-trial detention for Macri, but he froze 100 million pesos (990,000 dollars) of the entrepreneur’s assets. “Of course we will appeal the charges,” the La Nacion newspaper quoted Macri’s lawyer Pablo Lanusse as saying late Wednesday. Macri, who was on a visit to Chile, said in a first reaction on Chilean television that “this is a political persecution, which comes down to what we all already know. It is much more unpleasant for the Argentinian judiciary system to have judges like Bava.” Macri is not allowed to leave Argentina after his return from Chile. The former president is accused of being responsible for illegally spying on the relatives of injured soldiers. The submarine ARA San Juan had disappeared in November 2017 with 44 sailors on board while travelling from Ushuaia in the far south of Argentina to Mar del Plata on the Atlantic coast. (dpa)
