Juan López Torales to face trial for simulated 2014 protest incident

Argentina's Supreme Court of Justice has cleared the way for the oral trial of Gendarmerie commander Juan López Torales, widely known as ‘el gendarme carancho’. The court rejected a defense appeal that sought to dismiss the case due to the statute of limitations.

López Torales faces charges of aggravated illegal deprivation of liberty through violence and false testimony. The case stems from a July 2014 incident during a protest by Lear autoparts workers on the Panamericana Highway in Tigre. Video footage captured by journalists shows the commander running toward a moving vehicle driven by Cristian Romero and throwing himself onto the hood, simulating being struck by the car to justify the subsequent arrest of the driver.

Following the incident, the driver was forcibly removed from the vehicle and detained. While the defense argued the crimes had prescribed, the Supreme Court judges Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz, and Ricardo Lorenzetti dismissed the appeal, upholding previous rulings by the Federal Oral Court No. 5 of San Martín and the Federal Chamber of Cassation.