Judges Leopoldo Bruglia, Mario Llorens and Pablo Bertuzzi of the Federal Court of Appeals have said that the investigation into the assassination attempt against vice-president Cristina Fernández Kirchner is “completed” and the case should be sent to trial.

On September 1, Fernando Andrés Sabag Montiel attempted to shoot Fernández de Kirchner at point blank range outside her Recoleta home. Sabag Montiel, Nicolás Carrizo and Brenda Uliarte were arrested shortly after, accused of planning and executing the attack. 

The three are usually referred to as “the Cotton Candy Gang,” as they posed as street cotton candy sellers near CFK’s apartment, apparently to spy on her.

Fernández de Kirchner has been asking the courts to investigate the financing of the Cotton Candy Gang, and their possible connections to far-right groups like Revolución Federal and political parties, which have not yet been proven.

Judge Llorens wrote that it was “inadmissible” that the case has not been sent to trial, since the investigation is “completed.” However, he said that there was not yet sufficient evidence to back up CFK’s claims about possible backers of the attack.

Bruglia and Bertuzzi urged judge Capuchetti to send the case to trial with the “promptness the case demands”.

The judges’ recommendation came after Carrizo’s defense said that Capuchetti had delayed sending the case to trial.

The judges upheld Capuchetti’s decision not to release Nicolás Carrizo into house arrest, since they agreed that he could flee or interfere with the investigation. Carrizo is currently in pre-trial detention due to his alleged involvement in planning the attack.

Although the court has said that the investigation is complete, state news agency Télam reported that investigators are still evaluating whether it is possible to recover the data from Sabag Montiel’s cellphone, whose contents were erased after it was seized.