Cristina Kirchner: What is the scope of the sentence against the Argentine vice president?

the vice president Argentina Cristina Kirchner was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison and disqualified for life from holding public office for acts of corruption during his presidency between 2007 and 2015.

The court ruling has a strong impact since it is the first time that an Argentine vice president has been sentenced while in office and because the Peronist leader is the most relevant political figure in the last 20 years. However, it does not entail his immediate arrest because the sentence can be appealed before different instances until reaching the Supreme Court, which will have the last word.

LOOK HERE: Cristina Kirchner is sentenced to 6 years in prison for corruption and perpetual disqualification

What is the sentence and for what crimes?

A three-judge federal court sentenced Kirchner and he disqualified her for life from holding public office after finding her guilty of the crime of fraudulent administration -frauding the State- for about 1,000 million dollars by irregularly awarding some 51 works to Lázaro Báez, a related businessman during his two consecutive terms.

What was the impact of the sentence?

The sentence has a strong impact on Argentina because Fernández, 69, is the most important political figure of the last 20 years. She was a legislator, president for two consecutive terms and now vice president, as well as leader of a center-left sector within Peronism with a great capacity for mobilization in the streets. It is also the first sentence for a vice president in the exercise of power and is preceded by the frustrated attack he suffered on September 1 for which three young people are arrested and prosecuted. The ruling is expected to deepen the rift that divides society between Kirchnerists and anti-Kirchnerists.

This is the first trial against Fernández and the first request for a conviction against him. Other judicial investigations have been closed and several for different crimes are still open. Currently, a higher court is analyzing whether to reopen a case in which the vice president and her children were dismissed without an oral and public trial being held on the accusation of money laundering.

Supporters of Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner await the verdict in front of the Comodoro Py Palace of Justice, in Buenos Aires on December 6, 2022. (Photo by Luis ROBAYO / AFP) (LUIS ROBAYO /)

What was the argument of the prosecutors?

Prosecutors Diego Luciani and Sergio Mola argued that Báez’s company was a structure created to extract funds from the State by directing public works tenders and that when Fernández’s term ended, it disappeared. They also claimed that several highway projects registered cost overruns and many were never completed. In one of the hearings in the Luciani trial, he argued that “We are facing the biggest corruption maneuver that has ever been known in the country” and that it was in force during the two mandates of Fernandez and the presidency of Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), her husband and predecessor, who died three years after leaving power.

MORE INFORMATION: Cristina Kirchner and Carlos Menem, the two former Argentine presidents convicted of corruption

What was the vice president’s defense?

Fernandez He denied the charges and accused the court of having the sentence written from the beginning of the trial and of acting as a “firing squad”. He stated that the accusations had no legal basis and were based on lies. The center-left leader was considered persecuted by judicial sectors in cahoots with her successor in power, former President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), to undermine her popularity, remove her from the political scene and outlaw Kirchnerism.

Who were judged?

The court tried 13 defendants, including Fernández, Báez, the former Minister of Planning Julio de Vido, the former Secretary of Public Works José López and other people who held positions during his government and that of his Néstor Kirchner.

Supporters of the Vice President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, wait outside the Comodoro Py Palace of Justice in Buenos Aires on December 6, 2022. (Photo by Luis ROBAYO / AFP) (LUIS ROBAYO /)

What is the position of President Alberto Fernández?

The president has defended the innocence of the vice president, one of the few points of agreement with his partner in power with whom he maintains a cold relationship due to discrepancies over government management. Fernández has said that justice has systematically persecuted the former president.

Will Fernández go to jail?

No, because you can appeal the sentence before different judicial instances in a process that would reach the Supreme Court, which has the last word, and which could take years. On the other hand, as vice president – a position for which she was elected until December 2023 – Fernández has privileges that grant her immunity from arrest.

Will the vice president be able to compete in the 2023 elections?

Despite the conviction, the law allows any convicted person to run for the presidency or any other elective office, such as a seat in Congress, as long as the Supreme Court has not confirmed the sentence.

However, Fernández announced on Tuesday that “I am not going to be a candidate for anything, neither for president, nor for senator. My name will not be on any ballot”.

ALSO SEE: Cristina Kirchner after being sentenced to 6 years in prison: “This is a parallel State and judicial mafia”

What will happen if the sentence is final?

If the highest court ratifies the sentence, it will be necessary to see if by then the Peronist leader enjoys privileges for some elective position that ensures her immunity from arrest. In that case, the constitution provides for impeachment to challenge the convicted person, for which a special majority of votes in Congress is required.

Are protests expected?

Kirchnerism has declared itself in a state of alert and mobilization since the prosecutors requested the conviction. Within this movement there is no unanimity about whether a massive mobilization in support of the vice president is pertinent because she was the victim of a failed attack three months ago in the vicinity of her home during a show of support from supporters of she. Some pro-government unions have expressed their intention to take to the streets and strike indefinitely.

Source: Elcomercio