Phone-taps reveal gov’t links with rail union

Phone-taps presented as evidence yesterday as part of the Mariano Ferreyra murder trial revealed that former deputy railway transport secretary Antonio Luna had affirmed the Workers Party activist’s was likely to have been perpetrated by “some bastard that wanted to” cause a scandal “for the national government,” which was “doing things with the trains” at the time.

The allegation was heard in a telephone conversation recorded days after Ferreyra’s death on October 20, 2010, in which Luna, who is also indicted for the murder, called Railway Union (UF) deputy-secretary-general Juan Carlos Fernández. The latter’s union was heavily linked to Ferreyra’s death, and Luna had called to show his support at a time when Fernández had “increasingly fewer friends.”

“I accompany friends up to the cemetery gate,” Luna was heard saying in the recording amid laughs, also assuring he was calling to express his “solidarity” with Fernández.

Luna, who held the government position at the time of the murder, went on, stating “I hope for the good of everyone that this is cleared up, because it threatens not only the union but (also) the system.”

In the recording, the former railway transport official asserted he was aware that “all telephones were tapped,” and that because the opposition was “hitting hard,” the “best form of defence is to not (publicly) clarify anything.” Luna stands accused of “culpable damage” and “mismanagement to the detriment of the public.”

Ferreyra was shot dead during clashes at a march between outsourced Roca train line workers and union members almost two years ago.

Another recording revealed that UF delegate Alberto Carnevalle had also called Fernández, expressing his anxiety over news channels directly linking him to the crime, with Fernández repeatedly telling him to “calm down” and affirming that they were “all together.”

The trial will continue tomorrow with the testimony of Juan Carlos Pérez, accused of having disposed of the firearm with which Ferreyra was killed.

Herald with Ambito.com, Telam