Cristina Kirchner was sentenced to 6 years in prison – the current vice president of Argentina was found guilty of acting as the head of a criminal organization to embezzle state funds. Despite the conviction, Kirchner will not go to jail and he can still appeal. – President of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, was sentenced to six years in prison this Tuesday (06/12). She was found guilty of taking over the head of a criminal organization with the intention of embezzling state money while she ruled the country (2007-2015).
But Kirchner will not be arrested. This is the first to open a long string of appeals until a final decision, which could take place in the middle of the 2023 presidential election.
“Of course there will be a conviction,” the former president said in an interview with the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. Since the process began in 2019, the 69-year-old former deputy stated that the decision was “already written”, stating that it was a political judgment aimed at covering all Peronism. Movement inspired by former populist president Juan Domingo Perón, who ruled the country from 1946 to 1955 and then from 1973 to 1974.
Kirchner, along with 12 others, was charged with illegally placing public works contracts in the state of Santa Cruz during his two terms as president.
The prosecutor’s office first sought to be considered “the head of a criminal organization” and 12 years in prison for fraud charges, and also offered to be barred from public office.
Before the verdict, Kirchner said he would stay in politics regardless of his sentence. “The idea and promise that I think needs to be made to build a better country for our people is something I will never give up.”
In his final words before the court, he accused the judges of “inventing and distorting” their actions. “This is a firing squad,” he criticized.
The defense questioned the accusation of complicity on which the prosecution based the case against the former president. If the court only accepts the fraud charge, the maximum sentence will be reduced to six years. In either case, he may be permanently barred from public office.
Kirchner’s lawyers say there is no evidence to convict him, but “the decision will be political, and of course there will be a conviction.”
Judge under investigation
The day before the trial, Argentine President Alberto Fernández ordered an investigation into an alleged secret trip by a group of prosecutors, media entrepreneurs and judges, including Julián Ercolini, who is handling the case against Cristina.
Fernández told the nation about the measure, accusing “a large portion of the private media system” for not reporting what happened on the group’s “trip to the Lago Escondido region” in the Patagonia region.
The request for an investigation was made after messages emerged that alleged group members had combined strategies to hide the trip. “Seeing some businessmen, judges, prosecutors and officials acting haphazardly against the republic harms democracy,” the president said. “So far they’ve felt impunity. It’s time they started holding themselves accountable.”
According to a report in the newspaper Página 12, the trip would be to Lago Escondido on October 13. The group allegedly flew on a private plane and stayed at the cottage of British millionaire Joe Lewis.
The press released a series of messages in which ways to hide the funding source of the trip were also discussed. Some would suggest offering fake invoices and photo montages.
“It seems that the trip has taken place. And everything shows that those who know that the event has become news, those who will participate in it, are concerned about the real risk of getting involved in a series of crimes. [teriam recebido] “Fernández is present and absent in the performance of public officials’ duties,” he said.
anger
On September 1, Cristina was attacked when she arrived at her home in the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires.
The attacker, Brazilian Fernando Sabag Montiel, tried to shoot with a gun a few centimeters from the vice president’s face. He was arrested, as were the others accused of involvement in the case.
That same month, Sabag and his 23-year-old Argentine girlfriend, Brenda Uliarte, were charged with attempted murder. The judge in the case ordered the couple to be detained as a precautionary measure and paid 100 million pesos (approximately 3.11 million reais) each.
Argentina is experiencing a period of high political tension. Since the start of the process against Fernández’s former president and current vice president, groups for and against the Peronist leader have demonstrated on the streets of Buenos Aires.
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.