Thursday, January 26, 2023 | 1:18 p.m.
The plea of Hugo Tomei, the rugby players’ lawyer, began. “I have to speak after the lady and I feel inferior, especially since I have to defend myself, which of course will not be the same as that of the accusers,” says the defender who bases the first minutes of his argument in that idea.
“I represent eight convicted by the power of the media, by society and by public opinion. Against that it is very difficult because it is a way of putting pressure on the Judiciary. It is a way of obtaining a sentence that has to do with the criteria of public opinion,” Tomei said.
The lawyer carries out his presentation on the last day of allegations of the process that takes place in the courts of Dolores. Before, Fernando’s mother spoke: “I repeatedly saw how they murdered my son who implored mercy,” she said
Meanwhile, the lawyer for the defendants stated: “I am going to request the acquittal of the accused because the fact is not proven. The accusers proved another fact. It’s easy: eight adult male subjects agreed to kill Fernando Báez Sosa. The first thing is that they point to Thomsen as the person who had the conflict. If the sentence says that the problem was caused by all eight, but points to only one, there is no consistency, ”he says.
“The debate is to confirm whether this happened or not. There is no subsidiary accusation and the defense was not given room to expand. When we talk about fact we talk about conduct. If there are eight, it can’t be one,” she argues.
And he continues: “Of these eight, five hit Fernando Báez Sosa and three hit Fernando Báez Sosa’s friends. Of course there is the prior agreement. What happened in the plea? They all hit Fernando Báez Sosa. We are not talking about the same thing. So that it is understood well: it is an extremely technical question. What is charged is proven and something else was charged other than what was alleged yesterday.
“Even the president raised a sign against my defendants”
Tomei went on to refer to the public reaction to Fernando’s crime. “There are things that are not done. In the statement of the defendants I heard: “Perpetua”, “Murderers”. Doctor Emilia Pertossi received threats. Parents have just lost their jobs and this is extremely serious,” the lawyer said.
Along these lines, he referred to the support received by the parents of Fernando Báez Sosa from Alberto Fernández, a year ago. “We were surprised by the little sign of the President of the Nation, but I know that the Court is not going to be intimidated by anything.”
Then, he asks to play a video of Fernando Burlando insulting the defendants in front of the press. “This hurts because he is a recognized professional, one of the best. What he achieves is that they are locked up 21 hours a day in tiny cells”, he assures.
