Bodyguard arrested for false testimony at Diego Maradona death trial
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Bodyguard Julio Coria is escorted by police after being detained for false testimony at a court in San Isidro, in Argentina's Buenos Aires province, on March 25.
PHOTO: AFP
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SAN ISIDRO, Argentina - The former bodyguard of late football icon Diego Maradona was arrested March 25 for giving false testimony at the trial of seven health professionals accused of criminal negligence in his care, an AFP reporter witnessed.
Julio Coria left the courtroom in the Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro in handcuffs after the judge backed the prosecution’s claim that the he had lied under oath.
Maradona died on Nov 25, 2020, at age 60, while recovering at home from brain surgery for a blood clot, after battling cocaine and alcohol addiction for decades.
His seven-person medical team is on trial for what prosecutors have called the “horror theatre” of his care in the final days of his life.
Maradona died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema, a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs, two weeks after undergoing surgery.
Coria had performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Maradona at the rented house where the footballer was staying near San Isidro until doctors arrived and declared him dead.
The bodyguard claimed he had not spoken with Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s personal physician who is charged in the case, but the investigation revealed multiple text messages between the two before and after the death.
Coria was arrested on charges of perjury.
The defendants in the case face prison terms of between eight and 25 years if convicted of “homicide with possible intent” – pursuing a course of action despite knowing it can cause death. AFP
