Macri, Oyarbide focus on James' partner

By María Vicens

Buenos Aires City Mayor Mauricio Macri's prosecution has split the illegal phone tapping probe into two parts: on one side, Macri's lawyers are set to appeal Federal Judge Norberto Oyarbide's ruling, whereas the experts in the probe will analyze the available evidence in regard to the new summonings issued by the magistrate.

Both Macri's lawyers and the judicial officers focus on retired Colonel Jorge Raúl Zenarruza, who is scheduled to become the first witness to testify on June 1^st, amid the framework of a new series of questionings in the investigation.

Macri's lawyers have already stated - as part of their appeal to Macri's prosecution- that they will urge the Judiciary to deepen the investigation over the phone calls made by the alleged spy and former City Hall employee Ciro James, who is actually arrested in Marcos Paz Prison, and indicted on charges of alleged collusion. According to Macri's lawyers, 192 outgoing calls from James' phone line were made to Palacios, 16,397 to Zenazurruza, and 7,860 to James' former office at the University of La Matanza.

Macri's laywers seek to separate the Buenos Aires City Mayor from James' activites, and also strengthen James' ties outside the City government.

In the brief filed during his questioning, Mauricio Macri urged Federal JudgeNorberto Oyarbide to focus on his administration rather that on James' tasks as a Federal Police member. For that reason Macri asked the Judiciary to investigate the main Argentine police force and the Secretariat of Intelligence (SIDE), and also to increase the monitoring of James' phone calls.

On the other hand, the tribunal started to expand the investigation after the media repercussion following Macri's prosecution. Oyarbide considered the City Mayor to be 'criminally responsible as a co-perpetrator' over the illegal phone tapping associated to his brother-in-law's line. Herein, Zenarruza becomes an important actor in this plot, since he was the owner of the mobile phones used by James and his wife Silvia Daniela Zanta, who used to be linked to Bárbara Díaz, Deputy Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta's wife.

Oyarbide's court is investigating whether Zenarruza is the owner of the car used by Ciro James when the former policeman took the SIDE's cassette tapes to Posada, Misiones province. As a matter of fact, Zenarruza would have accompanied James in a series of trips, some of them made to Brazil.

The investigators suspect James would have bought the wiretapping devices -which were confiscated in a seize at his house in October- during a trip to Ciudad del Este. The retired Colonel is also the father of Jorge Manuel Zenarruza, who happens to be James' partner in Sistemas Telefónicos Integrales (STI) since 2004. This company - located at 983 Santiago del Estero Street- 'provides the installation, repair and maintenance of telephone equipments.' Unlike his father, no legal notificiation has been issued on Zenarruza Jr.


After Zenarruza's declaration, former deputy Metropolitan Police chief Osvaldo Chamorro is scheduled to testify on June 2^nd over the phone calls connected to Ciro James. Roberto Ontiver, another high-ranking police officer was also summoned to testify.

Misiones court clerk Mónica González was meanwhile summoned for June 3rd. González used to work with Judges Horacio Gallardo and José Luis Rey, who ordered the wiretappings. Last Friday, the above mentioned magistrates were also prosecuted on alleged collusion. Misiones Federal Police officers Diego Guarda and Raúl Alberto Rojas (who is already prosecuted) are scheduled to testify on June 8th.

The following day, Federal Judge Norberto Oyarbide will question Rosana Barroso, Mariano Narodowski's former Cabinet Chief at the Ministry of Education. Barroso's legal situation worsened after her former boss was prosecuted last Friday over alleged concealment of collusion.

Barroso -who had already told Judge Oyarbide that Ciro James was 'her informal consultant'- will testify on the authenticity of the documentation proving James' tasks. This new round of testimonies will finish on June 10^th, with the testimony extension of the core actor in this case: none other than Ciro James.



Translation by Jimena Gibert