Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Kirchner could be sentenced to 12 years in prison and barred from public office when judges deliver their verdict in a corruption case Tuesday.
However, even if it means a defeat for the former president, who has millions of supporters across the country, the case is likely to receive appeals and go through years in the high courts.
Kirchner, who was president from 2007 to 2015, has been accused of alleged corruption in public works concessions during his government. He denies the allegations and describes the court as a “shotgun”.
“It’s clear there will be a conviction,” Kirchner said in an interview with Folha de S. Paulo published Monday. He claimed that his constitutional guarantees were violated in this process.
A conviction could trigger angry reactions from Kirchner’s supporters in a country going through a protracted economic crisis, with inflation reaching 100%, and where many speak of strong political polarization between the left and the right.
It could also cast a shadow over the Peronist government of President Alberto Fernández, which is facing a fierce battle for re-election against a conservative opposition in the general elections scheduled for next year.
Prosecutors allege that the public works contracts were awarded to a businessman allied with Kirchner, who in turn flowed the money back to her and her late husband, Néstor Kirchner, also a former president.
Defenders of the vice president say he is a victim of legal persecution.
source: Noticias
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.