The Vice President of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, was sentenced this Tuesday to six years in prison for fraud and corruption during her presidential terms (2007-2015) and forever disqualified from holding public office.
Cristina Kirchner, 69, was found guilty of “fraudulent management” to the detriment of the State, in a case related to the awarding of public works in her political stronghold of Santa Cruz (south), during her two terms as president, reported the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The Argentine Public Ministry had requested 12 years in prison for Kirchner, who has always denied having done anything wrong and has denounced having been the subject of a “political” trial.
A three-judge panel found Kirchner guilty of fraud but rejected the charge of running a criminal organization, avoiding a harsher sentence.
This is the first time that an Argentine vice president has been convicted of a crime during his tenure.
The former president, who for now enjoys immunity until December 2023 because of her position in the executive, has the right to appeal the ruling to higher courts, a process that could take years.
The court also sentenced Lázaro Báez, the former Secretary of Public Works José López and the former head of the National Roads Directorate, Nelson Periotti, to six years in prison.
On the other hand, the court acquitted Julio De Vido, Minister of Planning of Argentina between 2003 and 2015, Abel Fatala, former Undersecretary of Public Works of Argentina, and Héctor Garro, former president of the Santa Cruz Provincial Road Agency.
Cristina Kirchner’s supporters had vowed to paralyze the country if she was convicted and were taking to the streets of Buenos Aires, marching on the federal justice building.
The Argentine Public Ministry estimates that the amount illegally collected by the network in which Cristina’s late husband, Néstor Kirchner, and former members of the Government, such as former minister Julio de Vido, were found.
Prosecutors Diego Luciani and Sergio Mola said Kirchner fraudulently directed 51 public works projects for Lázaro Báez, a construction magnate and former ally of hers and her husband, president from 2003 to 2007.
According to the indictment, the Báez company was created to divert revenue through improper bidding on projects with excessive costs and, in many cases, never concluded. The company disappeared after 12 years in power by the Kirchners, they added.
On Monday, Cristina Kirchner anticipated in an interview with the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo that she would be sentenced, claiming to be a victim of political persecution.
For Kirchner, her foreseeable sentence will be “a gift” for the head of Grupo Clarín (media group), Héctor Magnetto, who accuses her of having involved her in a political, media and legal plot. She also included prosecutors in the alleged conspiracy.
Cristina Kirchner also accused the judges “appointed” by former President Mauricio Macri of “protecting” him, as well as those who tried to assassinate her in early September.
The official considers that only “the material authors” of the attack are being detained, leaving the “intellectual authors” to be known.
“They received financing of 17 million pesos (about 97,000 euros) from a carpentry workshop that does not exist. If it were the other way around, we would all be in jail,” Kirchner added, according to extracts released by the Télam news agency. .
Source: TSF
