San Isidro (Argentina) (AFP)

Diego Maradona's night nurse, the first member of his medical team to appear before the Argentine public prosecutor's office on Monday, denied having abandoned his patient to a slow agony, claiming to have "been ordered not to wake him up".

Ricardo Almiron, 37, spent more than seven hours in the prosecutor's office in San Isidro, in the suburbs of Buenos Aires: he is suspected of having lied by claiming that the football idol was sleeping and breathing normally a few hours before his death, as the autopsy revealed he was dying.

Diego Maradona, who suffered from kidney, liver and heart problems, died in 2020 of a heart attack alone at his residence in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires, just weeks after undergoing brain surgery for a blood clot.

He was 60 years old.

The nurse "had been ordered not to wake up the patient", but nevertheless "had the wisdom to carry out his task" of surveillance, assured at his exit of this long interrogation his lawyer, Franco Chiarelli.

"My client has always treated Maradona as a patient with psychiatric complexity, a problem related to abstinence," the lawyer added to the press.

Retired from the field at 37, "el Diez" (the ten, his jersey number), had sunk into drugs and alcohol, multiplying cardiac incidents, detoxification cures, phases of obesity, at the risk of his health.

Six other members of Diego Maradona's medical team, including his personal doctor and psychiatrist, must in turn be heard by the Argentine prosecution as part of an investigation for "manslaughter with aggravating circumstances" opened by the prosecution. San Isidro.

The latter indeed considers that his death, on November 25, 2020, is the result of professional misconduct and negligence on the part of the medical team.

- Medicines -

The seven members of the nursing staff are accused of failing to ensure "the correct administration of prescribed drugs and psychotropic drugs".

The last of the seven to be heard, on June 28, will be 39-year-old neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, Maradona's personal physician.

Two daughters of the ex-captain of the Argentina team, Gianinna, 32, and Jana, 25, had shortly after the death publicly pointed out the practitioner's responsibility for the deterioration of their father's state of health. , triggering legal proceedings.

The seven caregivers are heard free, but are prohibited from leaving the territory.

# photo1

After the questioning, the prosecutor will forward the case to an investigating judge, along with his recommendation to continue or close the case.

If brought before a court, a decision that could take months or even years, they face sentences of 8 to 25 years in prison.

"It will probably go to trial, there is no indication to the contrary," a judicial source familiar with the matter told AFP.

- Overwhelming expertise -

In early May, an expert report concluded that the former player had been "abandoned to his fate" by his medical team, whose "inadequate, deficient and reckless" treatment led him to slow agony.

# photo2

"The signs of danger of death that he presented were ignored", still estimated the twenty experts, including forensic pathologists who performed the autopsy and specialists from various medical disciplines.

According to the document, "the medical team fully and completely considered the possibility of the patient's fatal outcome, but remained absolutely indifferent to this issue and did not change their behavior and medical approach."

"Taking into account the clinical, clinico-psychiatric picture and the poor general condition, he should have continued his rehabilitation and interdisciplinary treatment in an appropriate institution", insists the document.

The death of Maradona, considered a football genius, created a planetary shock wave and shocked Argentina.

Tens of thousands of people attended the wake of her remains around the presidential palace, where she had been transported.

# photo3

The legendary number 10 had sparkled in club, as in the national team, under the jersey of the Albiceleste.

His hand goal against England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup, which he renamed the "hand of God", is part of the history of the sport, as is his second goal, while dribbling.

© 2021 AFP