Doctor Maradona Faces Premeditated Murder Charges

Diego Maradona (Instagram @MaradonaMovie)

JAKARTA - Seven people under investigation over the november 2020 death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona face charges of premeditated murder.

Seven defendants - including neurosurgeon Maradona, Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and psychologist Carlos Diaz - face sentences of eight to 25 years in prison if found guilty.

The San Isidro Attorney General's Office, which is leading the investigation, quoted Antara as saying by AFP on Thursday, saying the indictment was based on the expert board's findings on Maradona's death from a heart attack last year.

The report concluded that the football icon received inadequate medical care and was left for a "painful and prolonged period" before his death, which occurred just weeks after undergoing brain surgery on a blood clot.

"After so much injustice, the case became clear," the source told AFP.

Defendants are barred from leaving the country and must be present before the investigation between May 31 and June 14.

The legal proceedings were preceded by a complaint filed by two of Maradona's five daughters against Luque, whom they blamed for their father's deteriorating condition after brain surgery.

Prosecutors believe Maradona's death was not the result of malpractice or the negligence of his doctor, but they knew the former football star was going to die and did nothing to prevent it.

Prosecutors obtained a series of messages and audio showing the medical team knowing that Maradona consumed alcohol, psychiatric drugs and marijuana in the last few months of his life.

In the report's conclusions, the medical board also said that the "life risk signs" shown by the former Napoli and Barcelona star were ignored, and that treatment in recent weeks was "impaired by irregularities".

The charges in Maradona's death come along with another case, a disputed inheritance, involving his five children, his brother and Matias Morla, his former lawyer.

Maradona was an idol to millions of Argentines after he inspired the South American nation to their second World Cup victory in 1986.