Brazilian Fernando Sabag Montiel, the main suspect of trying to kill former Argentine president Cristina Kirchner in September 2022, admitted this Wednesday (26) that he wanted to kill her because she is “corrupt”, as he said at the beginning of his trial in Buenos Aires.
Montiel, 37, acknowledged pulling the trigger “once” in front of the former president’s face on the night of September 1, 2022.
“I base what I did because she is a thief”, declared Montiel, who added that his companion, Brenda Uriarte, and Nicolás Carrizzó, accused as co-author and accomplice, incriminated themselves because they were supposedly “financed”.
Montiel referred to the hypothesis that the attack had been financed by third parties, although Federal Prosecutor’s Office No. 2, led by prosecutor Carlos Alberto Rívolo, said that the alleged links between the crime and right-wing movements in Argentina had not been proven.
The main person accused of the crime reaffirmed that “(trying to) kill Cristina” was “an act of justice, and not an act to benefit financially”.
He also declared before the judges of the Oral Court of the Federal Criminal Chamber No. 6, in Buenos Aires, that, if he achieved his objective, “there would be destabilization” and “a civil war” in the country.
According to the expert analysis carried out on the Bersa Thunder pistol used by Montiel, the .22 caliber bullet did not leave the chamber because the weapon was not cocked.
The accused stated that he did not try again because he was intercepted by Cristina’s supporters, referring to a group that was in front of her house several days ago to show support, amid the accusation he had just received for corruption during his presidential term. .
“I didn’t reload the weapon because I was intercepted. I didn’t have any time to leave or escape from the plan. I was thirty centimeters away from her,” he added.
Montiel’s statements are in line with some of the testimonies read during the hearing and which were collected in the investigation, together with audiovisual material from the press and several people present on the day of the attack.
According to the judicial investigation, Montiel, Uliarte and Carrizo sold cotton candy near Cristina Kirchner’s residence with the intention of familiarizing themselves with the place and routine of the then vice-president in Alberto Fernández’s government.
Montiel admitted that he had planned and organized the attack and that Uliarte’s role was only that of “company” and that with Carrizo they had only a “working relationship”.
On the latter’s cell phone, conversations related to the attack were found, in which the accused talked about their “modus operandi”, which Montiel considered “fabricated”. “I never told Carrizo what I would do to protect myself,” he alleged.
He also said that after he was arrested, his phone was destroyed and replaced with another one.
During the final questions at the hearing, one of the lawyers representing Cristina Kirchner asked him if he regretted it. “I would have regretted it more if that had happened, probably,” Montiel replied.
The trial will continue next Wednesday (3) with testimonies from Uliarte and Carrizo.
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