The ex-president is said to have robbed the state of millions with construction contracts awarded under the hand. There is a risk of six years in prison and a ban from public office. She sees herself as a victim.
Controversial Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner has been sentenced to six years in prison in a corruption trial. The court also banned the 69-year-old for life from holding public office on Tuesday (local time) for misappropriating public funds. However, the ex-president (2007-2015) can still appeal the first-instance verdict. It could be years before a final judgment is reached. That’s why Kirchner remains at large for the time being and could probably run again in the presidential election next year – which she ruled out after the verdict.
It is the first time in Argentina’s history that an incumbent vice president has been convicted. Kirchner is also being investigated in other cases of money laundering and corruption. After the verdict was announced, Kirchner’s supporters took to the streets in front of the courthouse in Buenos Aires. They chanted “Cristina – President”, threw down barriers and showed banners with slogans such as “We are all Cristina”, “Out with the judges” and “Free political prisoners”.
Orders pushed in without a call for tenders?
Kirchner and her husband, who has died in the meantime, ex-President Néstor Kirchner, in office from 2003 to 2007, are said to have awarded public contracts to a friendly building contractor without a tender during their tenure as heads of state. According to the findings of the prosecution, part of the overstated construction costs later flowed back to the couple. Today’s Vice President is said to have cost the state around one billion US dollars.
Kirchner rejected the allegations and accused the judiciary of investigating against them for political reasons. “It’s a parallel state apparatus and a legal mafia,” Kirchner said after the verdict was announced. “The real punishment is the ban on holding public office – I won all my offices by votes. That’s why they punish me. Good – then I won’t be a candidate.”
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández once again jumped to the side of his deputy. Right from the start, his left-wing government described the investigations against Kirchner as “lawfare” – a war with legal means. “Today an innocent person was convicted in Argentina,” wrote the head of state on Twitter. “This is the result of a process that does not even meet the minimum requirements for due process. I express my solidarity with Cristina Kirchner, who is the victim of unjustified persecution.” He further wrote: “All men and women who love democracy and the rule of law should stand by her.”
She is dearly loved by her followers
Kirchner represents the left wing of the current governing coalition and is seen as the real power puller in Buenos Aires. Again and again she imposes her will on the government. Her followers, who often come from humble backgrounds, see Kirchner as the guarantor of lavish social programs. The charismatic politician dominates the streets through social movements, trade unions and party groups such as the youth organization La Cámpora, which is loyal to her.
Hardly any other female politician in Argentina is as polarizing as Kirchner: as passionately as she is loved by her supporters, her opponents hate her just as passionately. Argentina’s political landscape is highly polarized, and the “grieta” (rift) between right and left runs through society as a whole.
After prosecutors had called for Kirchner to be jailed for 12 years, hundreds of her supporters camped out in front of her apartment in the elegant Recoleta district for days at the end of August. On September 1, she escaped an attempted attack when a man pointed a gun at her from close range, but it jammed.
Source: Stern
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