Prosecutors ask for up to 12 years

Prosecutor Patricio Ferrari asked for prison sentences on Thursday, 8 October, as closing arguments began in the trial in San Isidro, north of Buenos Aires. The heaviest request, 12 years, was for neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, Maradona's personal doctor, who led the medical team. Ferrari asked for 10 years for Nancy Forlini, the medical coordinator of the Swiss Medical health insurer, according to DW, N-tv and Notícias ao Minuto, while ANSA reported 8 years for her. Psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov was asked for eight years, psychologist Carlos Díaz for five, and nurse Ricardo Almirón and his superior Mariano Perroni for four years each. Luque, Forlini and Cosachov are charged with homicide with eventual intent, while Díaz, Almirón and Perroni face negligent homicide charges.

Prosecutors also asked for 10 years of professional disqualification for Luque, Forlini and Cosachov, according to DW and Notícias ao Minuto. They requested an acquittal for clinical doctor Pedro Di Spagna, who visited Maradona only once.

The prosecution's case

Ferrari argued that Maradona's death could have been avoided and that the medical care was inadequate. He described the patient's condition in strong terms.

Maradona was not a healthy patient who died unexpectedly, but a patient with extremely complex medical problems.

Ferrari called Maradona a medical "time bomb" after his discharge and said the treatment was marked by a chaotic organization. He told the judges that the house had no gloves, compresses, infusions, first-aid kit, defibrillator or ambulance. Prosecutors described the treatment as "anarchic", with two leaders and two independent channels of information. He said the defendants had known the risk they created.

Having foreseen the risk and accepting it, they produced the result with indifference.

Timeline of 2020 and the trial

Maradona was discharged on 11 November 2020 after surgery for a subdural hematoma and was sent to a house in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires. He died there on 25 November 2020, aged 60. Reports differ on the cause of death: Mediafax cites heart failure and acute pulmonary edema, N-tv a heart attack, and DW pulmonary edema and cardiorespiratory arrest. One ANSA report gave 20 November as the date of death. At the opening of the trial on 14 April, Ferrari had argued that Maradona began dying 12 hours before his death.

The trial has run for about seven months in San Isidro, with 45 hearings, 75 testimonies and about a hundred messages extracted from the defendants' phones, according to Notícias ao Minuto. ANSA reported that the first trial was annulled after a scandal over a documentary filmed secretly by judge Julieta Makintach. Mediafax reports that the eighth accused, nurse Dahiana Gisela Madrid, will be tried separately by a jury.

Defence and next steps

The defendants deny the charges, and the defence rejects the accusations. Closing arguments from the civil parties and the defence are due over the next two weeks, according to N-tv. The verdict of the San Isidro tribunal is still pending.

The central core of the charges has remained intact in light of what emerged during the trial.

Notícias ao Minuto reports that prosecutors pointed to Luque and Forlini as the main persons responsible. The main charge carries a sentence of between eight and 25 years in prison, according to ANSA.