World

Nicaragua detains witness to singer Cabral's murder

Published March 30, 2012 Updated March 30, 2012 07:21am

MANAGUA: Nicaraguan police have arrested businessman Henry Farinas, a key witness to the killing of Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral, for investigation, an official said.

National Police Commissioner Major Fernando Borge told Channel 4 television that Farinas was arrested Thursday at the Augusto Cesar Sandino International Airport in the capital and taken in for "some formalities and investigation."

He declined to provide further details on why Farinas was arrested, or to say whether he was detained while leaving or arriving in the country.

Farinas, the owner of a chain of luxury nightclubs in Central America, was driving in a vehicle with Cabral, 74, when they came under attack on the way to a Guatemala airport after concerts on July 9, 2011.

Farinas, who was wounded in the attack, is now a key witness for the prosecution in the trial of Alejandro Jimenez, a rival businessman accused of ordering a hit on Farinas that accidentally killed Cabral instead.

Jimenez, 38, who was arrested earlier this month in Colombia, is awaiting trial in a maximum security prison in Guatemala. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Argentina held three days of national mourning after Cabral's death. Fans turned up in droves to pay final respects as the singer's coffin was displayed in the theater district of downtown Buenos Aires.

A global nomad who claimed to have visited 150 countries, Cabral sang largely about peace, love and everyday pleasures and pain.

His songs include the 1970s hit "I'm not from here nor there" and are frequently performed by other Spanish-language performers. He was declared to be a "World Peace Messenger" in 1996 by UNESCO.

                   

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012