Afimag.com –
The vice president of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, has been sentenced to six years in jail on November 06, 2022, for corruption.
Kitchener was standing trial for restricting Argentine’s best-known politician from contesting an election after a court order.
Kirchner stated on her social media that none of the allegations preferred against her was proven and, that she had been convicted by a legal mafia.
She said, “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 wrote on social media after the ruling.
Nevertheless, legal and political critics explained that Kirchner’s chances of heading to jail is uncertain, as she held congressional immunity through her current roles, and still has several opportunities to appeal the ruling.
“The verdict will have a strong political impact,” said political analyst Rosendo Fraga of the University of Buenos Aires, although “the chances of her being arrested for the sentence are non-existent.”
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Recall that the country’s VP was charged alongside 12 others for abuse of offices and illegal awarding of contracts in the southern Santa Cruz province in favor of one Lazaro Baez.
The investigated period were Kirchner’s eight years in office and the preceding four years when her late husband Nestor Kirchner, who died in 2010, was president.
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The public prosecutor, however, condemned in strong terms, what he described as, “a system of institutional corruption” and “probably the largest corruption operation” in the country, with “systematic irregularities in 51 calls for tenders” over 12 years.
He noted that the eight of Kirchner’s co-accused were trailed with corruption, and found them guilty as charged.
Kirchner and co-accused were sentenced to between three and six and a half years in jail. Three were released and another had their case dismissed as it had passed the statute of limitations.
Reacting, Kirchner stated the charges were cooked up by her political enemies, saying, “this court has been a true firing squad,” the veteran politician said during her final address to the court, accusing prosecutors of having “dedicated themselves to disrespecting and insulting me.”
It was learned that Kirchner was the head of the country’s Senate and enjoyed immunity as a lawmaker being the vice president of the country.
On his part, Fraga said potential appeals could take up to six years or more. All eyes will be on potential protests after the verdict.
After the prosecutors announced that they were seeking a 12-year jail term in late August, mass daily protests erupted outside Kirchner’s apartment building in the upmarket suburb of Recoleta.
During one of the protests on September 1, a man shoved a revolver in her face and pulled the trigger; but the gun did not fire. Four persons were arrested and brought before the court for involvement in the attack.
