\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t Gianinna Maradona, daughter of Argentine football superstar Diego Maradona, was in court on Wednesday to testify against Julieta Makintach, the judge who was dismissed from her father\u2019s death trial after being accused of filming a covert documentary of the proceedings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw the footage, I couldn\u2019t stop crying. It all seemed so unfair, unnecessary,\u201d said Gianinna. \u201cWe were looking for my dad\u2019s assassins, and what we were seeing in the documentary had nothing to do with that. It was a horror movie.\u201d<\/p>\n
The youngest of Maradona\u2019s two daughters with long-time wife Claudia Villafa\u00f1e said their world \u201ccame apart\u201d upon learning of the filming, as they quickly understood \u201ceverything would have to start again.\u201d She added she had discussions with Makintach and \u201ctrusted her\u201d when the judge told her they weren\u2019t filming.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I saw it, and I saw how they had different chapters, how they talked about my dad, and the images they showed, I wanted to die,\u201d Gianinna\u00a0said. \u201cHe\u2019s just a person who has died. Even if he was Diego Maradona, he was my dad and my son\u2019s grandfather. I can\u2019t believe there would be people who would brag about being linked to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The charges\u00a0 The proceedings against Judge Makintach began on November 6 and are expected to last between several weeks and a few months. She stands accused of authorizing an outside team to record images during a trial without formal authorization, with the aim of producing a documentary miniseries about the judicial process investigating criminal responsibility in Maradona\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
The indictment also alleges that Makintach violated the express prohibition on recording or filming hearings and that she interfered with the work of police personnel who attempted to prevent audiovisual recording inside the courtroom.<\/p>\n
She had even submitted her resignation, pending acceptance by Governor Axel Kicillof, but was then removed from office by the Buenos Aires Bicameral Commission for the Prosecution of Magistrates and Officials.<\/p>\n
If the accusations are confirmed, it could mean the end of Makintach\u2019s judicial career.<\/p>\n
The defense The judge testified on the opening day, saying she regretted what happened and insisted she had no contact with the producing team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I could turn back the clock, but I swear it on my children, I never met the producers,\u201d she said. \u201cI never thought my impartiality as a judge would come into question.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also insisted that she told all members of the court that there would be a camera in the room pointing at her and said that everyone agreed it was \u201ca brilliant idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would\u2019ve loved it if someone told me otherwise, if someone warned that I was putting the trial at risk,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Court judge calls Makintach a liar Judge Maximiliano Savarino, who was part of the court that led the trial over Maradona\u2019s death, said in his testimony on the third day of the trial that Makintach was \u201clying, manipulating, and tricking people the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Savarino also discussed a WhatsApp group the judges were part of, where Makintach allegedly disclosed the filming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI left it because of the things she was saying,\u201d said the judge. \u201cI felt pressured and fooled. The warning never existed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gianinna Maradona, daughter of Argentine football superstar Diego Maradona, was in court on Wednesday to testify against Julieta Makintach, the judge who was dismissed from her father\u2019s death trial after being accused of filming a covert documentary of the proceedings.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I saw the footage, I couldn\u2019t stop crying. It all seemed so unfair, unnecessary,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":8747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1912,3156,3157,67],"tags":[1909,3154,3155,1369],"class_list":["post-8746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-judiciary","category-makintach-impeachment","category-maradona-trial","category-sports","tag-judiciary","tag-makintach-impeachment","tag-maradona-trial","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}