Buenos Aires
Argentine prosecutors will on Monday question Diego Maradona’s personal physician, accused along with six other medical professionals of having neglected the ailing football icon in his final days.
The appearance of Leopoldo Luque, 39, will close a two-week process of interrogating the seven, who appeared one by one to defend themselves against the accusations.
Luque, who has described Maradona as a friend, was in charge of his medical team, which a board of experts found had provided inadequate care and abandoned the idolized player to his fate for a “prolonged, agonizing period” before he was found dead in bed. A judge will next decide whether to order a trial, in a process that could take years.
The suspects risk between eight and 25 years in jail if found guilty. The sporting legend died of a heart attack last November at the age of 60, weeks after undergoing brain surgery for a blood clot.
An investigation was opened following a complaint filed by two of Maradona’s five children against neurosurgeon Luque, whom they blame for their father’s deterioration after the operation.
A panel of 20 medical experts convened by Argentina’s public prosecutor said last month that Maradona’s treatment was rife with “deficiencies and irregularities.”—APP
