After one week Jean-Michel BouvierThe father of one of the two French tourists who were raped and murdered in Salta has asked his country’s judge to activate an investigation to make up for shortcomings in the Argentine investigation, the provincial prosecutor’s office told the public about ““The tasks carried out so far and the progress made in the new investigation ordered by the Public Prosecutor in connection with the murder of Cassandre Bouvier and Houria Moumni, which occurred in July 2011 in Quebrada de San Lorenzo”.
On 17 February, one year and two months after the country’s Supreme Court of Justice overturned the life prison sentence of Santos Clemente Vera – which Bouvier had publicly defended as innocent, a simple scapegoat used by the Salta authorities – the Salta Public Prosecutor’s Office, through Decision 1594/25, established a life sentence. Special financial unitmade up of prosecutors Maria Lujan Sodero Calvete, Pablo Rodrigo Paz, Gabriel Gonzalez and danielle Espilusin, ““With the aim of conducting a review of the case in accordance with current standards of criminal investigation and scientific techniques, given the international importance of the event and its impact on the community of Salta.”.
It did so “through a ruling of dismissal due to exceeding the reasonable trial period availed by Santos Clemente Vera, issued by the District Court of Appeal, which would have led to the completion of the judicial process initiated under the previous procedural regime of criminal investigation.”
The Salta Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPFS) reported in a statement that this financial unit “has been working steadily and without interruption since the date of formation within the framework of a comprehensive approach scheme that combines technical analysis of the materials presented in the original case with the application of new scientific tools and contemporary criminal investigation methods. This approach allows us to review the structure of the evidence collected in 2011, verifying the consistency and traceability of the combined evidence and, at the same time, expanding the scope of the lines of work through updated procedures that were not available at the time of the events.”
The information published by the Ministry of Finance and Financial Affairs through its institutional portal stated, “The Seventh Nomination Court of Guarantees was required to order the maintenance of all seized items and the license, in accordance with the provisions of Article 309 III of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to extract data from mobile phones and other data storage devices,” as was requested of the First Guarantees Court. nomination that “Issuing an international judicial order so that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs Cassandre Bouvier’s mother and Houria Monmi’s mother and father of their rights as victims.Meanwhile, Michel Bouvier was notified at the home of the Salta studio he sponsors.
He explained that “the financial unit developed a methodology in stages.” The first is a “technical and structural review of the historical file exceeding 7,000 pages and including all the evidence seized in 2011”, which consists of a re-reading of the procedures, a chronological reorganization of the facts and an analysis of the traceability of each piece of evidence, with the aim of “understanding the status of the case, revealing possible blind spots and ensuring the progress of the new investigation on verifiable and up-to-date foundations.”
They reported that the second phase “aims to produce New analysis and experience with tools that were not available in 2011“.
It was listed that “the CIF’s Forensic Computer Laboratory is constantly carrying out new extractions and analyzes of the originally confiscated mobile phones and electronic devices, applying modern data recovery techniques and reconstruction of communication patterns,” a task that “allows the historical timeline to compare objective information obtained from telecommunications records for the critical period of July 2011.”
The MPFS reported that “the Forensic Service of the Public Ministry of Santiago del Estero examined the histopathology and entomology reports, concluding that the results obtained during the original instruction conform to the scientific standards of the international reference and provide elements that should be appropriately integrated into the current evaluation.”
Work is also underway, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to exchange information produced by French specialists. “Another key element of the work is the integration and comprehensive analysis of expert manuals prepared by French forensic experts, which contain advanced studies in molecular biology, microscopy, spectroscopic imaging and comparative analysis. These technical reports, which have not been fully evaluated in the previous judicial stages, are currently being analyzed by the Molecular Biology Service of the CIF, which is developing a comparative examination between the methodologies applied in France and those used in Argentina, evaluating points of correspondence, technical differences and possible implications for the research.”
Inconsistencies and coverage
The Special Financial Unit requested the referral of procedures related to the matter Commissioner Nestor Piccolo commits suicideWho participated in the investigation in 2011, and the files in which they are being investigated Illegal pressures and ideological lies linked to the police officers who intervened at that first stage. “This background is relevant for contextualizing the institutional development of the original investigation and understanding aspects that can influence the production and processing of certain procedural procedures,” he explained.
They took testimony again from Gustavo Orlando Lacy (serving a prison sentence for the double crime), who authenticated the version presented in the previous operations, and from the French journalist Jean-Charles Chatard, author of a book dealing with critical aspects of the previous investigation.
“This new investigation – which combines a technical review of the historical file, a contemporary scientific re-evaluation and the integration of existing testimonies together with international cooperation – was also developed in response to the right of the families of the victims to know the truth, the commitment of the Argentine State with the French authorities and the institutional need to ensure a transparent, serious and technical-based process in a case of high public impact,” the Ministry stated.