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<\/a><\/p>\nAlfredo Eugenio L\u00f3pez, who headed Federal Court No. 4 in Mar del Plata pictured here, was impeached for making antisemitic remarks.(Photo by Mara Sosti\/ AFP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Alfredo Eugenio L\u00f3pez, who headed Federal Court No. 4 in the coastal city of Mar del Plata, was removed by Argentina\u2019s Jury of Impeachment, a special panel composed of judges, lawmakers and lawyers.<\/p>\n
It is the first time in Argentina\u2019s history that a judge has been removed over antisemitic remarks.<\/p>\n
In L\u00f3pez\u2019s social media posts, the judge referred to the Jewish people as \u201ca brood of vipers,\u201d Israel as a \u201cfictitious state\u201d and Argentinian Jews as \u201cforeigners.\u201d He has also used such terms as \u201cZionist\u201d and \u201cgay\u201d as insults.<\/p>\n
According to the panel, the judge committed acts of \u201cdiscrimination and the denial of equal rights against the Argentine Jewish community. For the purposes of these proceedings, it is particularly significant that, by acting in this manner, he shattered public confidence in his continued fitness to administer justice impartially.\u201dThe case reached the panel through Argentina\u2019s Council of the Magistracy, based in Buenos Aires, the constitutional body responsible for the selection and discipline of federal judges.<\/p>\n
The first complaint against L\u00f3pez was filed in February 2025 by the Delegaci\u00f3n de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas, which is the umbrella organization representing Argentina\u2019s Jewish community. One month later, the Argentine Forum Against Antisemitism also filed a complaint. In July 2025, attorney Yamil Santoro from Apolo Foundation added another one.<\/p>\n
In his defense, L\u00f3pez argued that his messages were \u201c subjective and decontextualized interpretations of exchanges on social media, which in no way affect the administration of justice or his impartiality\u201d as a judge. He added that his remarks were unrelated to any pending case and that he had never been recused or removed from any judicial case.<\/p>\n
Lopez\u2019s attorney was not immediately available for further comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was removed because he simply would not stop engaging in hate speech,\u201d jury member Alberto Maques said during a live interview Tuesday on the A24 news channel. \u201cIt is absolutely disgraceful for a federal judge to engage in this kind of conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maques said there were 15 social media posts that he acknowledged, but more than 50 posts in which he said \u201coutrageous things that are not worth repeating because they truly constituted hate speech.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not merely an issue of hate speech against the Jewish community. This is someone who lacks common sense,\u201d he added, interviewed by A24 news channel.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors in the impeachment proceedings argued that the messages were not isolated political comments but reflected a pattern of hostility toward Jews, Zionism, and the State of Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo position of authority can shield hatred. This is not a matter of punishing an opinion. It is about sanctioning repeated conduct involving antisemitism, hostility and dehumanization, conduct incompatible with the impartiality, dignity and public trust required of the judiciary,\u201d DAIA said Tuesday in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis case sets a precedent: for the first time in more than a century, DAIA initiated proceedings of this nature against a judge. No office is above democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n