The former director of Coexistence and Citizen Security of the Ministry of the Interior, Gustavo Loyal, will be investigated next Tuesday for his alleged involvement in the Astesiano case. The prosecutor Gabriela Fossati summoned him after Leal gave explanations as a witness in the case and she considered that it was not credible when explaining the meeting she had with the parents of former custodian Alejandro Astesiano in Barra do Chui, Brazil.
According to the version of Alejandro Astesiano himself (today convicted of four crimes), Leal offered them money for transfers and, although both parties agree that there was no such offer, the prosecutor does not rule out the possibility that the former director was covering up another crime to from the exchange he had with the Astesianos.
Fossati has not given explanations to the press or public opinion about what are the suspicions of the alleged involvement that Leal would have in the case, because the visit to Astesiano’s parents did not constitute any crime: As far as is known, it was a meeting between three people with civilian status that took place in Brazilian territory.
Fossati chose Leal to target a politician
Fossati’s suspicion led Gustavo Leal to be the first political leader investigated under that cover in the Astesiano case, despite the fact that there are dozens of political figures from the ruling party who appear in chats and audios from Astesiano’s phones. The lawyer who defends Leal, Diego Camaño, delivered a letter to the Prosecutor’s Office in which he asked for clarification of the apparently criminal acts for which his client is being investigated. and why Internal Affairs officers had been involved in the case.
As the newspaper learned The countryThis was the office of the Ministry of the Interior that took statements from the father of former custodian Alejandro Astesiano, Raúl Astesiano, and from his two brothers, Raúl Carlos and Fabricio. Fossati summoned them as witnesses after, from the Punta de Rieles prison, the now convicted man reported to the prison authorities that Leal had visited his parents and had offered them money.
Leal chose Diego Camaño as his lawyer and, in dialogue with the press, he remarked that “Conversations between people are outside the authority of prosecutors” and that “there is no jurisdiction” to investigate the meeting, which took place in Brazil. “A conversation as such cannot be the subject of a criminal investigation. Nor the reasons for a conversation. We are going to listen to what the Prosecutor’s Office has to say, ”he said.
For their part, the Astesiano family insists on their version and the older brother, Raúl, who testified before Internal Affairs, assured the aforementioned outlet that they have stored information that could compromise government figures. And that, if the former presidential custodian requests it, they are willing to reveal it. “When Alejandro says ‘I’ve come this far’, the whole truth will be known. When he sees that things have become very complicated for him, we all assume that he is going to decide to speak. The whole family will come out,” warned the older brother.
