José Pedraza Arrested Over Role in Death of Mariano Ferreyra

Early this morning, José Pedraza, the general secretary of the railworkers union, was arrested by the federal police in his home in Puerto Madero.

Pedraza (66),is accused of being one of the masterminds behind the group of syndicate members that attacked a group of outsourced rail workers protesting outside Constitucion train station on 20^th October 2010. A young member of the Worker’s Party, who had arrived to support the protest, was shot and killed in the confrontation.

Also arrested were Juan Carlos Fernández, second in command of the union, and a delegate, Daniel Alcorcel.

Judge Susana Wilma López granted the arrest warrants upon request by prosecutor Fernando Fiszer.

One of the Worker’s Party’s leaders, Marcelo Ramal, celebrated the arrests, saying that the crime “had to have had organisers” and that they were the two arrested this morning. He was also critical of the responsibility held by the train company, the government and the police.

Claudia Ferrero, a lawyer for the Worker’s Party, demanded an investigation into why the police had left the area open to the thugs on the day of the protest, allowing the confrontation to develop and lead to the death of Mariano Ferreyra. She says that there is a list of 20 officers who needed to be brought in for questioning.

Ferrero also demanded that “the participation of Antonio Luna”, under-secretary of Rail Transport, should be investigated.

Pedraza, Fernández and Alcorcel join seven other detainees who remain in custody on charges related to the incident. These include Cristian Favale, a football hooligan who is the suspect of committing the murder and Pablo Díaz, the alleged recruiter of the gang.

The three have been taken to the courthouse, where they will be questioned throughout the course of today and tomorrow.