Maradona trial judge withdraws amid TV documentary controversy
One of the three Argentinian judges overseeing the trial of seven health professionals accused of negligence in Diego Armando Maradona's death has withdrawn from the proceedings amid controversy over her involvement in a documentary series about the case.
Julieta Makintach stepped down after footage emerged of the Divine Justice TV series that spans the first moments after the football superstar died in 2020 to the start of the trial more than two months ago, in which the judge appears as one of its lead characters.
Prosecutors played a trailer for the documentary in court on Tuesday, with prosecutor Patricio Ferrari accusing Makintach of behaving "like an actress and not a judge".
Makintach told the San Isidro court she had "no choice" but to recuse herself. The trial — which began on 11 March — has been adjourned until Thursday. The court will decide whether the trial can proceed with a new judge or if it must instead be restarted.
Maradona — who led Argentina to the World Cup in 1986 — died of a heart attack on 25 November 2020 while undergoing home hospitalisation on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, days after having surgery on a brain blood clot. He was 60.
Seven members of his medical team are on trial following an investigation for allegedly failing to provide adequate care while Maradona was at home, and could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors allege his death could have been avoided and have described the care given to Maradona as "reckless, deficient and unprecedented".
In July, an eighth member of the medical team will face a separate trial by jury.
Earlier this month, the lawyer representing Leopoldo Luque, Maradona's primary doctor at the time of his death and one of the main defendants, had requested Makintach's removal from the trial, arguing that the judge had demonstrated a lack of impartiality.
Luque's lawyer, Julio Rivas, said he had been contacted by British broadcaster BBC requesting an interview because they were making a documentary about the trial.
Court rules in Argentina prohibit unauthorised filming.
Widely perceived as one of football's greatest players, Maradona inspired his compatriots with a rags-to-riches story that vaulted him from poverty in the hardscrabble outskirts of Buenos Aires to international reverence.
In Italy's southern city of Naples, he had endeared himself to the local fans of SSC Napoli, who venerate him as a saint to this day.
However, Maradona had publicly struggled with drug addiction, obesity and alcoholism for decades and reportedly came close to death in 2000 and 2004.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
'At full speed': Home favourite Loïs Boisson vies for spot in French Open final
We look at an exclusive from The Guardian which relays harrowing testimony given to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Asaad al-Nasasra is one of two survivors from a March 23 attack, when 15 of his first responder colleagues were slaughtered by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza. They had been sent to recover the bodies of two paramedics killed in an earlier attack when their ambulances were ambushed by the IDF. Nasasra detailed what happened that day, telling the PRCS that he heard Israeli troops shoot first responders while they were clinging to life. The bodies were later found in a mass grave, with injuries indicating some had died through blows to the back of the skull. Nasasra was detained and tortured by the IDF for 37 days afterwards – including solitary confinement, starving and being subjected to loud music for long periods of time. This follows the shooting deaths of 27 Palestinians this week near food delivery sites, which has prompted a sharp rebuke from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The Telegraph reports that at the House of Commons on Wednesday he described Israel's recent actions in Gaza as "appalling" and reiterated calls for a ceasefire. Starmer also said he would not rule out imposing sanctions on Israel. It follows a joint statement by the UK, France and Canada last month criticising Israel for preventing aid from entering Gaza. Rarely are press updates to articles controversial, but one amendment made in The Washington Post has drawn the ire of social media users. The article reported on the attack on 27 Palestinians near a food delivery site in Gaza on Tuesday. The initial article attributed the killing of more than 30 people to Israeli forces, according to Middle East Eye. The article was amended to say that 31 people were killed according to Gaza's health ministry when Israeli forces opened fire. The vague phrasing, not directly blaming the attack on Israeli forces because of Israel's denial, has caused much uproar on social media. One Twitter user calls it "absolutely reprehensible journalism" and questions why the thousands of Palestinian eyewitnesses did not corroborate the attack. Next, The Times of London looks at how the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel is setting up in Europe. The British daily recounts a recent raid on the southern French city of Le Val, not far from St Tropez, where a meth lab was dismantled inside an opulent villa. Five Mexican members of Sinaloa had arrived there, in total anonymity, then set up a lab with the intention of training locals to run it and take a cut of the profits. It's the first confirmed Sinaloa operation on French soil and raises the spectre of the cartel's growing influence on Europe, this as demand for cocaine rises. Detectives believe that about 400 kilograms of meth amphetamine was produced in Le Val to be sold locally and smuggled as far as New Zealand, with profits valued at more than €11 million. Turning to sports news, the French papers are ecstatic as home favourite Loïs Boisson continues her dream run at the French Open. "A dream run" is not even strong enough to describe the French player's incredible week at Roland-Garros. Boisson, ranked 361st in the world, shot out of obscurity to topple world number three Jessica Pegula and then world number six Mirra Andreeva. She'll play her semi-final against world number two Coco Gauff this Thursday for a spot in the women's final on Saturday. L'Equipe, the French sports paper, pays tribute to Boisson at "full speed", who is powering through and hoping to make her first final. In its edition, former world number one Mats Wilander writes: "Yes she can!" Finally, a new study shows that smiling could be more efficient than Botox if you're looking to improve your physical appearance! The Times of London reports that a Dutch study followed 114 participants who underwent Botox and dermal filler treatments. The changes in their appearance were then judged by independent raters. The study's conclusion: Botox only offered small increases in how desirable people were seen in short-term relationships and none at all in long-term relationships. Their conclusion is that if you're taking Botox to seem more attractive, there is a far cheaper alternative: just smile!
LeMonde
a day ago
- LeMonde
BBC defends its Gaza reporting after White House accusation
The BBC on Wednesday, June 4, defended its reporting of an event during which Palestinians were killed near a Gaza aid center, after the White House accused the broadcaster of taking "the word of Hamas." Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli gunfire killed at least 31 people on Sunday near the US-backed aid center. The Israeli military, however, denied its troops had fired on civilians in or around the center, and both it and the aid center's administrator accused Hamas of sowing false rumors. Responding to a question about the event, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that the BBC had to "correct and take down" its story. "The administration is aware of those reports and we are currently looking into the veracity of them because, unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don't take the word of Hamas with total truth," she said. "We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC, who had multiple headlines," she said, citing stories that gave different death tolls. "And then, oh, wait, they had to correct and take down their entire story, saying 'We reviewed the footage and couldn't find any evidence of anything'," she added. 'Normal practice' But the BBC said the White House claims were not accurate and that it had not removed its story. "The claim the BBC took down a story after reviewing footage is completely wrong. We did not remove any story and we stand by our journalism," it said in a statement. It said headlines giving varying death tolls were "totally normal" journalistic practice due to the story being "updated throughout the day with the latest fatality figures as they came in from various sources." It said the death tolls were always "clearly attributed, from the first figure of 15 from medics, through the 31 killed from the Hamas-run health ministry to the final Red Cross statement of 'at least 21'", it added. Leavitt also criticised the Washington Post for its reporting of the incident. The Post deleted one article over sourcing issues "because it and early versions of the article didn't meet Post fairness standards." "The article and headline were updated on Sunday evening making it clear that there was no consensus about who was responsible."
Euronews
a day ago
- Euronews
Banksy's new artwork temporarily (and naughtily) defaced in France
Well, that didn't take long... Banksy's newest work, a traffic bollard casting a shadow of a lighthouse with the words "I want to be what you saw in me" written over it, was temporarily defaced once its location was confirmed last weekend. Geoguessers on social media turned out to be right when they speculated that the street art was located in Marseille, in the south of France. And the city, known for its rambunctious spirit, lived up to its cheeky reputation. Une publication partagée par Banksy (@banksy) The artwork was vandalized, with the lighthouse and its poignant message turned into a penis with an added pair of testicles. Hardly very original, but also not entirely surprising. The elusive UK artist has often stated that their works are meant to be reinterpreted - even hijacked – but we're not sure if this is what he / she / they had in mind. The crudely altered lighthouse was promptly restored and shining again within 24 hours of the purple gonad additions. 'I tried to clean up some of the tags that had been made last night, because in fact it takes a while for the anti-graffiti varnish to really work,' explained Agnès Perrone, a heritage decor painter, to AFP. 'They waited until I went to bed, even very late, to come and add a nice pair of bollocks around the lighthouse,' she said, adding: 'I find it very stupid. But at the same time, I'm used to it, I'm from Marseilles: it's a national sport to fight tags here.' The artwork has been gaining traction online and many fans have been flocking to the tunnel near the Catalans beach to admire a more intimate statement from Banksy, whose work is usually characterised by satire or socio-political meaning, often addressing war and the pitfalls of consumerism. British singer and songwriter Jessie J revealed in a social media post on Wednesday that she has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. The 37-year-old now plans to undergo surgery following a festival performance in London later this month. 'Cancer sucks in any form, but I'm holding on to the world 'early',' she said in a video message posted to her Instagram account. 'It breaks my heart that so many people are going through so much similar and worse – that's the bit that kills me.' 'I just wanted to be open and share it,' she said, 'I'm not processing it because I'm working so hard.' 'It's a very dramatic way to get a boob job,' the singer joked in her message, 'I'm going to disappear for a bit after Summertime Ball to have my surgery and I will come back with massive tits and more music.' A post shared by Jessie J (@jessiej) Fans and friends flooded the Instagram post's comments section with words of support. Another British pop star Rita Ora replied: 'You're literally my favourite person and I'm praying for you, you've got this.' Other British acts including Wretch 32 and Leona Lewis also commented, sending their support. Jessie J is one of the biggest pop stars in the UK, with more than 20 million monthly Spotify listeners. Her hit songs like 'Price Tag', 'Bang Bang' and 'Flashlight' charted both domestically and internationally.
