A federal appeals court in Argentina confirmed the guilty verdict of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on Wednesday (13).
Kirchner, who served as president for two terms between 2007 and 2015 and then as vice president from 2019 to 2023, was found guilty of defrauding the state and received a six-year prison sentence in December 2022. According to the complaint of the Argentine Public Ministry, the former president and several former employees of her government formed million-dollar contracts for road works that were incomplete, overpriced and which would also be unnecessary.
The fraud scheme would have taken place while she was president of the country.
The complaint specifically deals with 51 road tenders in the province of Santa Cruz, where her late husband, former president Néstor Kirchner, was from, and where they both developed much of their professional and political careers before jumping onto the national scene.
The case can still be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Kirchner, a powerful figure in Argentina, survived an assassination attempt in 2022, which triggered large demonstrations in his support.
She was appointed to lead the Peronist opposition Justicialista Party after former president Alberto Fernández was accused of abusing the former first lady earlier this year and stripped of his position in the party.
She will assume the position on November 17th.
Argentina will go through legislative elections in 2025, but a bill being debated in Congress that prohibits people convicted of corruption from holding public office could complicate Kirchner’s political future if it moves forward.
This content was originally published in Argentine justice confirms conviction of former president Cristina Kirchner on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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