This Thursday morning (9), the grounds for the sentence against Argentine vice president Cristina Kirchner in the judicial process on public works during her tenure as president of the Republic were published. The announcement justifying the conviction had been awaited since December, when the verdict of the Federal Oral Court 2 sentenced Kirchner to 6 years in prison and life disqualification from political office for alleged embezzlement in 51 public works in the province of Santa Cruz. In a scheme initially identified as an illicit association – a charge Kirchner was acquitted of – employees of the then president would have benefited businessman Lázaro Baez in tenders.
In 1,616 pages, judges Jorge Gorini, Andrés Basso and Rodrigo Giménez Uriburu support the accusation against Cristina Kirchner and 12 others implicated in the investigation, concluding that, between 2003 and 2015, there was “express connivance and protection of state organizations to guarantee the full activity of the business consortium controlled by Lázaro Báez”.
“After having examined the facts in their entirety – ‘the complete film’, appealing to the metaphor –, the public policy that his government preached, presaging an unprecedented benefit for the extensive Patagonian province, actually hid, like a Trojan horse, the indispensable budget for the successful development of criminal activity”, wrote the judges.
Peronist militants hold a vigil at the Palace of the Courts the night before the announcement of the grounds for the sentence against Cristina Kirchner. / La Cámpora
Of the 51 public works, five were evaluated by the expert, and only three were considered in the fundamentals published this Thursday. The judges also retrieved text messages from 2015, extracted from the cell phone of Kirchner’s former Secretary of Public Works, José Francisco López, presented as evidence by the prosecution of an alleged operation to cease illicit activities after the change of government – Mauricio Macri, from the right-wing Republican Proposal party, PRO, won that year’s presidential election. The judges conclude that the mentions of a “lady” in the messages, whom López refers to, is undoubtedly the then president Cristina Kirchner.
“Although, within the National Executive Power, the general administration of the country since the constitutional reform of 1994 is carried out by the chief of staff, the President of the Nation is also ‘politically responsible for the general administration of the country’. This implies a legal responsibility and political, with civil and criminal projections”, says an excerpt from the plea.
The Kirchnerist organization La Cámpora called a vigil the night before, on Wednesday (8), at the Palacio dos Tribunais in support of the vice president. A big act was called by the Peronist militancy for this Saturday, the 11th, in the municipality of Avellaneda. The groups encourage Cristina Kirchner’s candidacy for this year’s presidential election, since the vice-president announced in December, upon receiving the sentence considered unfair, that she “would not run for anything.”
President Alberto Fernández also condemned the judicial-media operations against Kirchner, during his speech at the opening of the year’s legislative sessions. Fernandez particularly mentioned the various obstacles in the investigation of the assassination attempt against Cristina, which took place in September of last year.
From the publication of the fundamentals, the defense has 10 working days to present the appeal in the Criminal Cassation Chamber.
Peronist organizations encourage Cristina Kirchner’s candidacy for the presidency this year. / La Cámpora
judges deny lawfare
During the court proceedings, Cristina Kirchner pointed against the court and stated that “her sentence was already written”. The case would be yet another chapter in a long assault by the opposition against the Peronist leader.
:: Cristina Kirchner accuses judicial “parallel state” in 1st public act after sentencing in Argentina ::
Regarding this statement, the judges dedicated a space in the document to reply to the accusations: “Nothing that has not been seen or heard before: electoral speculation, political persecution, media operation, armed case, attempted ban, false denunciation, conspiracy, right enemy criminal, plot, judicial hunting. We could go on with the long list of usual subterfuges with which to respond to an investigation, process or judicial sentence. Now it seems more sophisticated to talk about lawfare (as if things described in English had more value) to define something that, in reality, appears only as a new conspiracy theory – as old as the rule of law itself.”
In addition to the scandal of leaked chats last year, which reveals the friendship between judges, Grupo Clarín, Republican Party officials and two of the judges who drafted the pleadings released today have a special bond with the Republican Proposal (PRO) party, led by Mauricio Macri . A photo on his social networks revealed that the judge Rodrigo Giménez Uriburu played a football match at a farm owned by former President Macri; in addition to having, on the same team, attorney Diego Luciano, part of the prosecution in the case of public works. In turn, Judge Jorge Gorini was also the target of criticism for having met on several occasions with Patricia Bullrich, Macri’s former Minister of Security and leader of the most reactionary wing of the Macrista coalition Together for Change.
Editing: Patricia de Matos
