A small step towards justice in the AMIA case was taken yesterday when the Cámara Nacional de Casación Penal (Argentina’s final criminal appeal court) ordered that Carlos Telleldín be retried on charges relating to his role in the preparation of the AMIA massacre. The decision arises from a previous Supreme Court decision which held that the early findings of the initial investigation into the atrocity are legally valid.

Telleldín is a used car dealer who also fenced stolen vehicles. He is suspected of having supplied the Renault Trafic van that the terrorists used to carry the bomb into the AMIA building. In 2004, after having spent eight years on remand, he and 21 former police officers were acquitted on all charges relating to the attack. The court ruled that the investigating Juan José Galeano, the investigating judge, had committed so many irregularities as to make it impossible to convict anyone.

Nobody imagines that either Telleldín or his corrupt friends in the police planned the attack themselves. Those responsible for that are in Iran and enjoy the protection of the Iranian government. One of the wanted men is currently that nation’s defense minister. Notwithstanding the annual UN farce, this isn’t a situation which bothers the Argentine government much.