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On Tuesday it was announced that the former president and current socialist VP of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for acts of corruption.
This is a historic ruling in which the former president was also disqualified for life from holding public office after the court found her guilty of the crime of defrauding the state by favoring Patagonian businessman Lázaro Báez in the awarding of public works.
The case of Cristina Fernandez
Newspaper La Nación explained that Fernández de Kirchner was not found guilty of the crime of illicit association, the other charge for which she had been indicted. It was also learned that she is the first VP in that country to be convicted of corruption while in office.
“Cristina Kirchner will not go to prison and will be able to continue being an official and candidate in the next elections for any position she wishes, since the sentence is confirmed and will be applied when – according to the new Federal Criminal Procedure Code partially in force – all judicial review instances have been exhausted. That is, when the Supreme Court of Justice rejects the defendant’s last appeal, which could take years,” reported La Nación.
It was also learned that the former Minister of Federal Planning and former Deputy Julio de Vido; the former Secretary of Public Works José López; the former head of the National Roads Department Nelson Periotti, and Lázaro Báez were also sentenced to six years in prison for fraud, out of a total of 13 defendants.
Williams Perdomo es periodista y escritor, especializado en las fuentes Política y Cultura.