Judge Norma Abate de Mazzucchelli presented her resignation from her position as president of the Fourth Chamber of Civil, Commercial and Mines of that province and was also suspended as first vice president of the Association of Women Judges of Argentina.
At that time a magistrate, she had been accused by a merchant in La Rioja of asking her for $8 million to expedite the succession file.
In a video, which was broadcast on Wednesday by Channel 13, the judge directly asked the complainant, Manuela Saavedra, “How much do you think you can (pay)? Who did everything to you? Who managed everything for you? It wasn’t the lawyers here.” After being approached by one of the journalists who made the report, The magistrate denied everything. “I don’t know that,” he defended himself.
“It’s simple, Manuela. Nobody here is going to put a gun in your chest,” Abate de Mazzucchelli expressed to the complainant after writing down a number 8, as a suggestion for a hypothetical sum of money in millions, according to Saavedra.
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The judge is also president of the Fourth Chamber of Civil, Commercial and Mines of La Rioja. She is also vice president of the Association of Women Judges of Argentina.
Everything originated from a family succession without a will, who has as heirs all of Arias’ nephews, among whom is Saavedra and a sister of the man.
Saavedra is the owner of a bookstore in La Rioja, which she inherited from her family and she is the judicial administrator of that succession, in a process that has been going on for four years and whose progress was very slow “for various reasons.”
“For quite some time I had been asking for the release of funds because I needed them to meet the succession expenses and there was always a reason why those funds were not given to me,” Saavedra explained to Channel 13.
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According to Saavedra, Judge Abate de Mazucchelli asked him for explanations for the delay in a first meeting. “She told me that she knew my uncle and that she was going to make it an exception or favor to meet him and that she was going to help me get him out quickly,” she explained.
In another instance of the hidden camera video, the magistrate complained about her salary. “Us They pay us a shit salary, We did not reach a million pesos. How do you think you can live with that? ”She tells the complainant, who revealed that when she was leaving that meeting she received a suggestive “don’t forget about me.”
The complainant also said that the judge later went to visit her at her bookstore. “She pulled me aside and told me that the next day I could have the issue resolved and we could start with the trades, but that it had a cost, because it was a lot of work,” she explained.
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The next day, always according to Saavedra, Abate de Mazucchelli sent her a woman who said he worked with her and stated that all the writings were ready to be removed and the offices done. When the complainant visits the judge again, her presumed good will was transformed into an apparent economic interest.
“Are you going to charge me eight million? I can’t pay that.” And he crossed out the 8 and wrote a 5. “Do you want 5 million? But it’s a lot, doctor,” the complainant explained in the note.
The governor of Rioja, Ricardo Quintela, publicly requested his removal from office and investigation of the case. Additionally, the provincial Legislature is expected to meet to debate his removal. Judge Mazzuccelli has been in the judicial system for more than 30 years and is considered a key figure in the field of the Judiciary.
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Meanwhile, the transitional Judge of Instruction Number 1 of La Rioja, Cecilia Córdoba, was sworn in secretly at 8 a.m. on Thursday, despite having been rejected by the Bar Council due to multiple complaints against her.
It is highlighted that one of these complaints is in the court that she herself assumes, which implies a conflict of interest since she must investigate herself.
The call for the swearing-in was scheduled for 10 in the morning, but was brought forward due to the commotion generated by another court case. Despite the statement issued by local lawyers, there was no official response.
Cristina Salzwedel, lawyer and president of the Radical Civic Union in La Rioja, expressed her concern about this fact: “The judicial arm of Ricardo Quintela, which is the Superior Court of Justice, should not accept the resignation of Judge Norma Abate. If accepted, the judicial and political complicity that covers up the corrupt judge and the corrupt judiciary is reflected and evident,” he said in dialogue with Chain 3.
In that sense, the head of the UCR La Rioja publicly supported Manuela Saavedra, a merchant who recently denounced Abate.
Report by Eduardo German.
