Buenos Aires: Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez was convicted and sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison and life in public office for a fraud scheme that embezzled $1 billion during her presidency through public works projects. Was banned for life.
A three-judge panel found the Peronist leader guilty of fraud but dismissed a charge of running a criminal organization, which could have resulted in a 12-year prison sentence. It was the first time in Argentine history that a vice president had been convicted of a crime while in office.
Fernandez condemned the decision, calling himself a victim of the "judicial mafia". She later announced, however, that she would not run for president again the following year, a position she had previously held from 2007 to 2015.
Also Read: Zelensky travels to Donbass near the "difficult" front in Ukraine
The sentence is not final until all appeals have been resolved, which can take years. In the meantime, she would be immune to arrest.
Fernandez's supporters have threatened to shut down the country with a nationwide strike. They shut down downtown Buenos Aires and marched on the federal courthouse beating drums and shouting, pressing against police barriers.
Fernandez categorically denied all the allegations. Despite Argentina's dominance in this century, he was accused of improperly awarding public works contracts to a construction tycoon close to his family.
The decision is bound to widen divisions in the South American country, where politics can be a blood sport and the 69-year-old populist leader is either loved or despised.
President Alberto Fernandez, who is not related to his vice president, said on Twitter that she was innocent and that her conviction was "the result of a trial that did not follow the minimum due process."
Prosecutors claim that Fernandez defrauded the government by fraudulently directing 51 public works projects to Lazaro Baez, a construction magnate and an early ally of her and her husband Nestor Kirchner, who served as president from 2003 to 2007. Worked and died suddenly in 2010.
Members of the presidential administrations of Baez and Fernandez from 2007 to 2015 were among a dozen others charged in the conspiracy. Baez and his Public Works Secretary, José López, were also sentenced by the panel to six years in prison. Most others received lighter sentences.
Prosecutors Diego Luciani and Sergio Mola claimed that the Baez company was set up to steal money through improperly bidding projects that cost more and were often never completed. According to him, the company disappeared after the Kirchners were in power for 12 years.
Also Read: Concerns are raised by Indonesia's new criminal code
In such cases, judges in Argentina customarily first deliver the verdict and sentence and explain their reasoning afterward. The panel's full decision is expected in February. After that, the decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court, which can take several years.
Fernandez announced on her YouTube channel that she would not run for office again after her term as Vice President expires on December 10, 2023. My name will not appear on any ballot. "I finish on December 10th and then go home," she explained.
Politicians and analysts have noted that until her appeal is resolved, Fernandez would be free to run for any elected office – from a seat in Congress to the presidency – and would receive immunity from arrest in doing so.
"Cristina always surprises," Roberto Bachman, director of Argentina's Center for Public Opinion Studies, said of her announcement. However, "she will keep fighting," he added. "She puts herself in the middle of the fight and declares that she will not run away."
He said it remained to be seen whether the Peronist movement would try to persuade Fernandez to reconsider his decision.
Patricio Giusto, director of the political consulting firm Diagnostico Poltico, predicted that Fernandez would "equal his tactics of harassment and his own" with leftist politician Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who recently overturned a prison sentence for corruption by a court. After was elected President of Brazil. ,
During the judicial process, the vice president described himself as a "victim of the law", and described the judiciary as a pawn of the opposition media and conservative politician Mauricio Macri, who succeeded him as president from 2015 to 2019.
Fernandez remains the sole leader of the left wing of the Peronist movement. According to Beckman polls, 62% of Argentinians want him removed and 38% support him no matter what.
Other cases are still pending against him, including money laundering charges involving his son and daughter.
