Argentine prosecutors seek prison sentence for Vice President Cristina Kirchner

On Monday, August 22, the prosecution is preparing to request a prison sentence against Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner for alleged corruption when she was president (2007-2015), a punishment that, if confirmed, could disqualify her politically.

Prosecutor Sergio Mola opened the ninth and final arraignment hearing with a review of the details of the case where more than a hundred witnesses testified.

Mola considered that the defendants “outlined a plan” to defraud the State through “discretion in the use of funds”.

The trial began in May 2019 and investigated whether there was direction and overpricing in the awarding of public works in the southern province of Santa Cruz, the political cradle of the Kirchners.

Throughout the plea hearings, followed by those involved remotely, the prosecution targeted Kirchner as the leader of an illicit association, accusing her of fraud against the State, crimes that can carry a penalty of up to 16 years in prison.

The Penal Code establishes that whoever is convicted of these crimes will be disqualified from holding public office. For this, the conviction must be endorsed by higher courts.

After the prosecution’s indictment is closed, the defense has ten working days to begin presenting its defense for the 13 defendants, estimated to take several months.

The verdict is expected to be known before the end of the year.

The prosecution accuses the vice-president of leading an “illicit association” to defraud the State through crimes that began during the previous presidency of her late husband, Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), who died in 2010.

The Financial Information Unit (UIF) had considered it “irresponsible to move forward with an accusation” by dismissing the prosecution’s arguments on the existence of the crimes of fraudulent administration and illicit association.

On Sunday, more than 500 mayors signed a public letter that supported Kirchner, whom they considered a “victim of a judicial persecution”.

“Given the lack of evidence in the oral trial and the witness statements that demolished Iguacel’s complaint, the prosecutors, in open violation of the principle of defense in the trial, mounted in their accusation issues that had never been raised,” Cristina Kirchner twitted on Monday, August 22.

Also, deputies of the ruling “Frente de Todos” party launched a statement in support of Kirchner, president of the Senate, as well as a request published this Monday in the press under the signature of political and cultural referents.

The 69-year-old vice-president was acquitted in several cases for alleged crimes during her two presidential terms (2007-2015) but still faces five trials.

With information from AFP