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Latinnews Daily - 14 August 2003

ARGENTINA: Lower chamber votes to prosecute Moline

Argentina's chamber of deputies has voted with an overwhelming majority to prosecute supreme court judge Eduardo Moliné O ´Connor for corruption and misadministration. It is the first time in over 50 years that Argentina's lower house has taken such a decision. The motion will now pass on to the senate for approval.

The prosecution strikes a further blow at the so-called 'automatic majority' bloc in the supreme court. Moliné, who has remained in the court despite stepping down as vice president last month to concentrate on his impending legal battle, has been labelled the ideological head of the group, which was appointed by ex-President Carlos Menem and subsequently remained staunchly behind the former Presidnt. 

Julio Nazareno, the former President of the supreme court and another member of the automatic majority, resigned from the court at the end of June to avoid impeachment proceeding being brought against him. Like Nazareno, Moliné has been accused of three incidents of abuse of power in the Magariños, Meller, and Macri cases. Another five cases are also being brought against him.

Supporters of Moliné were few and far between; his prosecution was approved by 139 votes to 20, well above the two-thirds required. Only one person spoke in defence of the judge: the Menemist deputy Alejandra Oviedo, warned that President Kirchner's campaign against the supreme court was motivated by a desire to pack the body with his own supporters. Oviedo questioned why the deputies were now willing to prosecute Moliné after having refused to do so in October last year when the then-President Eduardo Duhalde brought similar charges against the court.

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