An Argentine prosecutor brought charges Thursday against the ousted head of the national broadcast media regulator after he defied President Mauricio Macri's decision to sack him. Macri issued a decree Wednesday replacing Martin Sabbatella, a top ally of his leftist predecessor Cristina Kirchner, as director of the Federal Authority for Audiovisual Communication Services (AFSCA).
But Sabbatella showed up for work anyway, insisting he cannot be removed before the end of his term in 2017 under a controversial Kirchner-era media law. "If this government doesn't like the law, it has to go to Congress and change it or repeal it. It can't do it by decree. The law must be obeyed," he told journalists outside AFSCA's offices.
Federal prosecutor Carlos Stornelli charged Sabbatella with "usurping authority" and "disobedience," and asked a judge to authorise a raid of AFSCA headquarters. Macri has named conservative lawyer Agustin Garzon to replace Sabbatella. Macri's cabinet chief, Marcos Pena, defended the presidential decree as "absolutely legitimate." "The president made a decision... and Sabbatella has to go," he told a news conference. The row is the latest twist in a long-running controversy over the 2009 media law passed under Kirchner. The law aimed to break up what Kirchner described as media monopolies and established AFSCA to grant and regulate broadcast licenses.
Comments
Comments are closed.