Diego Maradona's former bodyguard was arrested Tuesday for allegedly lying under oath during the trial of seven medical professionals accused of criminal negligence in the football legend's care.
Julio Coria was escorted out of a courtroom in the Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro in handcuffs after judges sided with the prosecution, which claimed he provided false testimony.
Coria, who was present at Maradona's home when he died under what prosecutors describe as negligent conditions, had attempted to revive the football icon with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, according to court evidence.
Maradona died Nov. 25, 2020, at age 60, while recovering at home from brain surgery for a blood clot. He had battled cocaine and alcohol addiction for decades.
His seven-person medical team is on trial for what prosecutors have called the "horror theater" of the final days of his life.
Jana, one of the player's five children and a plaintiff in the case alongside her siblings and Maradona's sisters, told the court she and her sister Gianinna visited their father a week before his death but said he was "in bad humor."
She said Maradona's psychologist, one of the defendants, had advised them to hold off on further visits "until he (Maradona) asked to see the family."
She added that her father was "bloated" during the visit and echoed accounts from other witnesses that there was no medical equipment in the house.
Maradona died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – two weeks after undergoing surgery.
Coria had tried to resuscitate him until doctors arrived at the house in the upmarket suburb of Tigre, near San Isidro, and declared him dead.
The bodyguard claimed in court Tuesday that he had not spoken with Leopoldo Luque, Maradona's personal physician and one of the defendants.
However, the investigation revealed multiple text messages between the two before and after Maradona's death.
The prosecution interrupted Coria's testimony several times, accusing him of "contradictions and omissions," before requesting his arrest.
The seven defendants are accused of "homicide with possible intent" – pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to their patient's death.
They face prison sentences of 8 to 25 years.
Prosecutors allege the footballer was abandoned to his fate for a "prolonged, agonizing period" before his death.
Nearly 120 witnesses are expected to testify in the long-delayed trial, which is expected to run until July.
