Argentine police arrest far-right politician accused of pedophilia

Former legislator German Kiczka (C), August 28, 2024. Photo: X/ @puntoabc

August 29, 2024 Time: 11:41 AM

German Kiczka is a member of the political coalition that brought President Milei to power.

On Wednesday evening, police in Corrientes province arrested German Kiczka, a former provincial parliamentarian from Misiones who had been on the run since August 22.

RELATED:

“Milei is building a colonial state, he is handing Argentina over to imperialism”: President Maduro condemns

The politician, who is a member of the coalition that brought President Javier Milei to power, is accused of producing and distributing child pornography. He was arrested in the town of Loreto, near the border with Misiones.

The action follows days of intensive searching and the issuing of a red alert by Interpol over suspicions that Kiczka might flee to neighbouring countries.

His arrest comes as part of “Digital Guardians for Childhood”, a police operation launched after reports were filed by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), which revealed criminal links between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

Recently, the Misiones Chamber of Deputies voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of German Kiczka, allowing him to be arrested and prosecuted on these serious charges.

“Paula Wachter, director of the NGO Save the Child, revealed that the legislator’s involvement in this criminal network was identified through his activities on social media, which involved using a YouTube magic channel to lure and seduce minors,” recalled the InfoBaires24 newspaper.

“The Kiczka case is not the first in Argentina where the complicity of officials with criminal networks has been observed. Wachter recalled the Loan case, in which Federal Police agents were involved in a human trafficking network for sexual exploitation.”

Wachter stressed that these criminal organizations “operate with a disturbing level of impunity, fueled by their ability to infiltrate key sectors.