"Maradona was murdered": The trial over his death has unhinged Argentina.

BarcelonaThe trial for the death of Diego Armando Maradona is unnerving Argentine society. A society that is experiencing difficult times, with protests against the cuts and policies of Javier Milei's government, and where the trial is being closely followed, which should clarify whether the footballer was murdered or the victim of improper treatment. Fluff, surely the most beloved Argentinian of all despite his sins, does not rest in peace. Just like another Argentinian symbol, Eva Perón, his body does not rest after death, with autopsies and debates.

The former player for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barça, Napoli, Sevilla, and Newell's Old Boys He died at the age of 60 due to respiratory failureBut his family and friends felt he hadn't been properly treated by the doctors, amid a murky web of interests that is difficult to follow. Maradona maintained a complicated relationship with his family, sometimes becoming closer to them and sometimes distancing himself from them, always surrounded by a network of businessmen who wanted to take advantage of his fame. In November 2020, when he felt ill, it was those close to him who decided he should remain at home and not be transferred to a medical center. Judges Maximiliano Savarino, Verónica Di Tommaso, and Julieta Makintach will have to determine whether seven of the eight defendants are guilty of simple homicide with eventual duel, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. The case is based on four complaints from Maradona's five recognized children and another from the Argentine idol's sisters.

During the first hearing, both prosecutor Patricio Ferrari and lawyer Fernando Burlando, who represents Maradona and Claudia Villafañe's daughters, Dalma and Giannina, stated that there was "abandonment" and a "plan to kill him," while the defenses were divided. In the final stage of the trial, the court will hear the arguments of the prosecution and the defense before setting a date for the verdict: if there are convictions, the sentence will not necessarily imply immediate arrest, as it must be finalized by higher courts. "Maradona was the victim of an inhumane plan with effective results. They would have saved his life at any poor hospital, but they left him in that house. He was murdered," explained Burlando, a high-profile Argentine lawyer, just before the start of a trial in which the defendants were insulted outside the court by Maradona's fans.

A shocking image

During the proceedings, a previously unpublished photograph of Maradona in bed, shown by one of the prosecutors, caused a stir. It shows the former player just before his death, or recently deceased. Very swollen and intubated. The photograph was apparently taken on November 25, 2020, the day of his death. "This is how Maradona died," said Patricio Ferrari, deputy attorney general of the San Isidro court. Giannina, one of his daughters, covered her face while crying upon seeing the image. "The truth is a right. Today Diego Armando Maradona, his children, and the Argentine people deserve justice," Ferrari said of the situation in which the famous soccer star died, accusing doctors and other professionals of allegedly abandoning the idol in his final days by not taking adequate measures to assist him. "The house was full of filth, it was small, and the sink was just over a meter long, a space where someone like Maradona couldn't move properly," he explained.

The trial continues these days with the testimony of the three police officers who confirmed his death on November 25, 2020. The officers were the first people to enter the house in the San Andrés neighborhood of Tigre, in the province of Buenos Aires, after Maradona's death. Prosecutors Cosme Iribarren and Patricio Ferrari considered, during the second hearing of the trial, on March 13, that their witness was key.