BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -An Argentine judge on Tuesday approved a request from former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to serve out her six-year prison sentence for corruption at home.
Kirchner, 72, a polarizing leftist figure who was president from 2007 to 2015, was convicted by a trial court in 2022 over a fraud scheme involving public road projects in Patagonia that allegedly benefited a close ally.
Argentina’s Supreme Court last week upheld the conviction and sentence, which also includes a lifetime ban from holding public office. Kirchner has denied wrongdoing, claiming political persecution.
The judge ruled she should serve the sentence, effective immediately, at her Buenos Aires residence due to her age.
The judge ordered Kirchner confined to her Buenos Aires residence immediately. She must remain at home except for court-approved or justified exceptions and, within 48 working hours, provide a list of authorized individuals, including household members and medical staff. Other visitors will require court approval.
The ruling deepens the legal and political reckoning for one of Argentina’s most divisive political figures, whose influence continues to loom large over the Peronist movement, even after its defeat in 2023 to libertarian President Javier Milei.
Kirchner has repeatedly accused the judiciary of aligning with conservative interests. After last week’s Supreme Court decision, she denounced the judges as a “triumvirate of unpresentables.”
Supporters had rallied in Buenos Aires, banging drums, blocking roads and waving banners bearing the image of Eva Peron, the iconic former first lady and powerful political figure revered by many Argentines for her advocacy for the poor and workers’ rights during her husband Juan Peron’s presidency in the mid-20th century.
Kirchner’s popularity and the broader Peronist brand have taken a hit in recent years, especially during her 2019–2023 vice presidency under Alberto Fernandez, whose administration struggled with runaway inflation and a deepening economic crisis driven in part by excessive money printing.
Despite her legal setbacks, Kirchner retains a fiercely loyal support base, particularly among working-class voters who benefited from subsidies during her presidency and that of her late husband Nestor Kirchner.
She is not the first Argentine leader to face criminal conviction. Former President Carlos Menem was sentenced to over four years in prison for embezzlement in the 1990s, though his role as senator shielded him from serving time behind bars.
(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Writing by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Kylie Madry and David Gregorio)
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