The court in the Argentine city of San Isidro has begun hearing witnesses in the case of the death of football legend Diego Maradona, BTA reported.
The TN television channel revealed that the first testimonies were given by the police officers who responded to the call along with emergency services.
Four law enforcement officers spoke in court and described what they saw that day in the house where Maradona spent the last days of his life.
"When I saw Maradona's body, my attention was drawn to his stomach, it was very swollen"“, the television channel quoted police officer Carlos Hugo Carranza as saying.
His colleague Lucas Farias, who first saw the footballer's body, told told the court that he was "very surprised" by the fact that his stomach looked "as if it was going to burst at any moment".
The trial into Maradona's death, in which the medical staff who cared for him are accused, began last week. On the first day, the prosecution showed a photo of Maradona, which was taken immediately after his death, and which corroborates the police testimony.
The defendants' lawyers insisted at the hearing that the death of Maradona, who suffered from addiction and had chronic health problems, was not related to the actions of their clients.
At the end of 2021, the Attorney General's Office transferred the case into Maradona's death to the court, and in June 2022, it became known that eight medical workers would be tried on charges of involuntary manslaughter of the football legend. The defendants, who include neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Kosachev and psychologist Carlos Diaz, face sentences ranging from 8 to 25 years in prison.