MIAMI, United States. – The Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation of Argentina ratified this Wednesday the sentence of six years in prison and perpetual disqualification from holding public office imposed on former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, according to reports from international agencies and media.
The sentence refers to a case of defrauding the State in road works during his mandate, between 2007 and 2015.
The ruling, initially handed down in December 2022 by the Federal Oral Court 2, found Fernández guilty of the crime of fraudulent administration of public funds in the case known as “Vialidad”. The investigation focused on irregularities in the concession of 51 public works to businessman Lázaro Báez in the province of Santa Cruz, during the governments of Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) and his successor and wife, Cristina Fernández.
Shortly before Chamber IV of the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation announced its decision, the 71-year-old former president published a video on the social network X (formerly Twitter). “I am heading to an activity with Mayor Mariel Fernández and 400 women,” he announced. Fernández did not attend the hearing where his conviction was confirmed.
The former vice president (2019-2023) and leader of Peronism has maintained that she is the victim of judicial persecution. In a writing spread on their social networksstated that “the crime of fraudulent administration in relation to road works could never have been committed as president.” He added that the works awarded to Báez were “approved by Parliament in the national budgets, tendered, executed and paid for by the government of the province of Santa Cruz and their accountability was approved by the General Auditor’s Office of the Nation and the Congress of the Nation from 2003 to 2015.”
The sentence also confirms the sentences of businessman Lázaro Báez and several former officials of the Fernández Government, who must serve different prison sentences. During the hearing, Kirchner militants demonstrated outside the federal courts in Buenos Aires, protesting against what they consider an example of “lawfare” or use of the judicial system to persecute political leaders.
Although the sentence has been ratified, Fernández will not lose her freedom immediately nor will she be prevented from seeking public office in the short term, since she plans to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. This process could take years. If the highest court confirms the sentence, the former president could serve the sentence at home due to her age.
The Peronist leader has linked the judges who convicted her to former president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), stating that he promoted the investigation against her. “I am a victim of political and judicial persecution,” he has reiterated on multiple occasions.
