Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was found guilty of corruption by a federal court in Argentina, receiving a six-year prison sentence, and being barred from holding public office.
The former president was found guilty of the crime of “fraudulent administration to the harm of the state,” notwithstanding her denial of the accusations leveled against her and her dismissal of the trial as a political witch hunt.
The accusation that she oversaw a criminal enterprise—which would have resulted in a harsher punishment—was rejected by the three-panel judge.
Due to her position as the nation’s deputy leader and head of the Senate, she enjoys congressional immunity and is therefore unlikely to serve any time in jail.
Fernandez de Kirchner, who has dismissed the accusations against her as a “fabricated fantasy” and is unlikely to soon serve any prison time due to governmental immunity, is anticipated to appeal the ruling.
The three-judge panel dismissed a charge of leading a criminal organization but found her guilty of “fraudulent administration” regarding erroneous public works contracts that were issued while she served as president between 2007 and 2015.
In her reaction to the verdict, Fernández de Kirchner claimed that “none of the lies were substantiated” and that a “legal mafia” was to blame for her conviction.
“I won’t be a candidate for anything, not a senator, or a deputy or president of the nation” in the 2023 general elections, she said in an hour-long broadcast immediately after the court had ruled.
During her two years as president, she was charged with granting public works contracts fraudulently in her home province of Santa Cruz (2007-2015).
The prosecution had requested a 12-year prison term and a lifetime political ban, and they have already said they will ask for a harsher sentence on appeal.
Diego Luciani, the lead prosecutor, criticized what he called “a system of institutional corruption” and “probably the largest corruption operation” in the nation’s history during the trial, citing “systematic irregularities in 51 calls for tenders” that occurred over a period of more than ten years.
13 people in total were accused of the two offenses of fraudulent administration and illicit association. Former Federal Planning minister Julio De Vido, former secretary of Public Works José López, and businessman Lázaro Báez, who is reportedly at the center of the corrupt organization, were among the 12 more accused.
Eight of the co-accused were found guilty and given prison terms ranging from three to six and a half years. Three were freed, while one had their case dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.
The court sentenced Báez and López to six years in prison for their crimes. De Vido, the former undersecretaries of public works Abel Fatala and Carlos Santiago Kirchner, and the head of the provincial roads agency in Santa Cruz were all found not guilty.