Santoro cuenta cómo los K lo acusaron falsamente de espía y extorsionador con el Operativo Puf

After seven years of pressure, false accusations, and a long legal battle, the courts definitively dismissed the case against Clarín journalist Daniel Santoro this Thursday. He had been accused of being part of an alleged spy and extortion ring that sought to implicate then-President Cristina Kirchner in corruption cases, among others. Federal Judge Julián Ercolini, acting on a request from prosecutor Alejandra Mángano, signed the definitive dismissal of the charges against Santoro, which included accusations of belonging to an alleged criminal organization led by the fake lawyer Marcelo D’Alessio and of coercing Kirchnerist businessman Mario Cifuentes and former PDVSA executive Gonzalo Brusa Dovat. In all three cases, Ercolini made the same emphatic statement: the filing of the charges “in no way affects the good name and honor” of the journalist. This is a formula expressly provided for in Article 336, paragraph 4, of the National Criminal Procedure Code, and it accompanies each of the dismissals issued in favor of Santoro. Throughout these years, Santoro was represented by lawyers Mauricio De Núñez and Guido Sciarreta and had the support of his bosses and colleagues at Clarín, FOPEA, ADEPA, the National Academy of Journalism, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York, the Buenos Aires City Bar Association, and Rejia, among numerous intellectuals and artists such as Luis Brandoni. Ercolini's ruling thus puts an end, at least as far as the journalist is concerned, to a case that was fabricated in Dolores in early 2019 and that for years was riddled with accusations of espionage, extortion, and alleged political operations. The Origin: Operation Puf In reality, the accusations against Santoro were used as part of the so-called “Operation Puf,” a maneuver designed to try to derail the Notebooks of Bribes case, which had begun to scrutinize a corruption network surrounding Kirchnerist businessmen and officials. According to a phone conversation included in another case, the operation involved political leaders linked to Kirchnerism and had the approval of the former president. In a conversation with former Secretary of Transportation Juan Pablo Schiavi, recorded on January 18, 2019, when Schiavi was detained in the Ezeiza prison, then-Congressman Eduardo Valdés told him: “There will be news, don’t worry.” And then he added: “Operation Puf.” When Schiavi asked, Valdés repeated the name of the operation and said: “Bonadio, Stornelli, Puf.” In that conversation, he also explained how a case would be fabricated before the then-federal judge in Dolores, Alejo Ramos Padilla, and how the file would be disseminated through media outlets close to Kirchnerism. A few days later, Cristina requested the Supreme Court's intervention regarding a nonexistent U.S. maneuver against her and said in the Senate: “Bingo! Stornelli with the fake lawyer and the ‘star journalist’ from Clarín, an expert in ‘investigations.’ This case has everything,” alluding to the D'Alessio case. A few days later, the “retired agricultural producer” Pedro Etchebest denounced D’Alessio for an alleged extortion attempt. Ramos Padilla, who was on vacation, reopened his court and began receiving a succession of nearly 30 complainants and plaintiffs, many of them defendants in corruption cases being heard in the federal courts of Comodoro Py. Bringing the complaint to Dolores was a clear case of "forum shopping" (choosing a friendly judge). Ramos Padilla let it be known that he could order Santoro's arrest. The journalist was questioned, his phone records were requested, he was indicted, his assets were frozen, and he was prohibited from leaving the country. D'Alessio had been a source of information for around twenty journalists, some of whom had even had financial ties to him. However, Ramos Padilla's investigation focused solely on Santoro. The federal prosecutor in Dolores, Juan Pablo Curi, on the other hand, never charged the journalist. The Mar del Plata Court of Appeals overturned the indictment In December 2020, prosecutor Juan Manuel Pettigiani requested that the charges against Santoro be dismissed. Days later, the Federal Court of Appeals of Mar del Plata, composed of judges Alejandro Tazza and Eduardo Jiménez, overturned the controversial indictments issued by Judge Ramos Padilla and upheld the right to freedom of expression and journalistic confidentiality.