Argentina’s Cristina Fernández sentenced to six years in $1bn fraud case - The Guardian

Argentina’s vice-president and erstwhile president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, has been sentenced to six years successful situation and fixed a lifelong prohibition connected holding nationalist bureau aft being recovered blameworthy successful a $1bn fraud lawsuit related to nationalist works.

Fernández – who was president of Argentina for 2 presumption betwixt 2007 and 2015 – was recovered blameworthy connected Tuesday, though she is improbable to service immoderate situation clip soon arsenic she has immunity acknowledgment to her authorities roles and is expected to motorboat a lengthy appeals process that could instrumentality years.

A three-judge sheet rejected a complaint of moving a transgression organization, for which the condemnation could person been 12 years successful prison. The condemnation marked the archetypal clip an Argentinian vice-president has been convicted of a transgression portion successful office.

In a unrecorded watercourse aft the verdict was announced, Fernández said that the charges against her were politically motivated. “This [the actions of the judiciary] is simply a parallel authorities and mafia,” she said.

The verdict is definite to deepen fissures successful Argentina, wherever the 69-year-old populist dominates the governmental scenery and precocious survived a failed assassination attempt aft her assailant’s weapon seemingly jammed. Last month, Fernández compared her judges to a “firing squad”.

Fernández was accused of arranging for 51 nationalist works contracts successful the Patagonian state of Santa Cruz to beryllium awarded to a institution belonging to Lázaro Báez, a person and concern subordinate of Fernández de Kirchner and her husband, Néstor Kirchner, who was president of Argentina from 2003-2007.

Prosecutors said the Báez institution was created to embezzle revenues done improperly bid projects that suffered from outgo overruns and successful galore cases were ne'er completed. The institution disappeared aft the Kirchners’ 12 years successful power, they said.

More details soon …