A top judge in Argentina has subpoenaed the former president Mr Carlos Menem to testify in a case in which he is accused of involvement in illegal arms sales while head of state.
"There is sufficient evidence to warrant interrogating him as 'head of the illicit association,'" state prosecutor Mr Carlos Stornelli said.
Federal judge Mr Jorge Urso ordered Mr Menem to testify on July 13th. If the Peronist Party leader, Argentina's president from 1989 to 1999, is convicted of heading an illegal association, he could be sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison.
"Menem is a man of his word. Menem's not a coward. It would be painful for Argentina, for his political companions, for him not to face such a grave accusation," defense lawyer Mr Oscar Roger said.Once Menem testifies, the former president could be formally charged and detained.
He has denied any knowledge of how shipments of rifles, cannons and shells authorized for sale to Panama and Venezuela found their way to Croatia in 1991 during a U.N. arms embargo and to Ecuador in 1995 when that country was waging a border war with Peru.
Menem's former brother-in-law and former adviser, Emir Yoma, was arrested in the scandal earlier this month, and the charismatic leader's administration was marked by a series of corruption scandals.