Nisman's ex-wife criticizes investigation

The investigation into Alberto Nisman's death has become too politicized, the prosecutor's ex-wife said on Thursday, calling for the case to be referred to an international commission.

Nisman's suspicious death on January 18, hours before he was expected to testify against senior government officials, sparked a crisis for the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Nisman's ex-wife, Sandra Arroyo Salgado (pictured), herself a well-known judge, accused investigators of releasing too much information on the case.

"Let's let justice take its course," Salgado said, speaking at a congressional session organized by opposition parties. "Don't continue politicizing a case in which so much is still unresolved.

"In my own name and that of my daughters, I ask the national public defenders' office to consider ... the possibility of taking the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights," Salgado said.

She called on lead investigator Viviana Fein to stop the flow of information coming out about the case.

"Overexposure in the media facilitates the impunity of those responsible" for Nisman's death, Salgado said, referring to detailed accounts of the investigation in the press.

Fernandez blames rogue agents

Nisman was investigating Argentina's response to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center - specifically whether Iranian involvement was overlooked in exchange for oil deals. Argentine investigators have said they discovered a draft document seeking a warrant for President Fernandez's arrest in Nisman's home, where his body was found in the bathroom with a bullet in his head and a pistol by his side.

The day after Nisman's body was found in his apartment, Fein said it appeared he had committed suicide. Later, she said investigators were looking at possible homicide.

Following Nisman's death, Fernandez dissolved the country's intelligence service and announced plans to create a new agency. She says she is also convinced Nisman's death was not suicide, but asserts that disgruntled former intelligence agents killed him as part of a plot to discredit her.

jr/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)