Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was found guilty in a $1 billion fraud case, was sentenced to serve six years in prison, and was banned from holding public office over her lifetime.
The ruling was handed out by a panel of three judges that said the 69-year-old vice president, who is a prominent and polarizing figure in Latin America and the nation's most influential politician in the last two decades, was guilty of fraud.
Argentine Vice President Convicted
Kirchner allegedly directed millions of dollars in taxpayer money to a family friend during her tenure as president. The vice president was acquitted of charges that she spearheaded an illicit organization that engineered bribes and overpricing tied to roadwork projects in Patagonia.
However, the official has denied any wrongdoing and is expected to appeal the decision, calling the court a "firing squad" that was engaged in political persecution that sought to keep her from running for a third term as president next year.
Being Argentina's vice president and also a senator, she has immunity from incarceration and a lifetime ban on serving public office until her appeals are exhausted, which are expected to take years, as per the Washington Post.
In a live video on social media following the ruling being made public, Kirchner said that a president was not accountable for the execution and administration of the budget. She added that she did not legislate or sanction budget laws, placing the responsibility on the deputies and other senators.
Kirchner added that she would refrain from running for public office next year amid the controversy of the ruling. On the other hand, prosecutors said that the vice president funneled money to construction magnate Lazaro Baez during her tenure as president from 2007 to 2015.
According to BBC, after Kirchner claimed that the ruling was politically motivated, she described herself as the victim of a "judicial mafia." Before the decision was revealed, the vice president also said that prosecutors lied and that they slandered her.
Massive $1 Billion Fraud Case
The situation is the first time in the history of Argentina that a vice president has been convicted of a crime while holding office. Baez was also sentenced to six years in prison and was already sentenced to 12 years in prison last year over money-laundering charges.
A total of 11 people were put on trial, seven of whom were found guilty and sentenced to anywhere between three and a half and six years in prison, three of whom were released, and one had their case dismissed.
Prosecutors argued that they discovered irregularities in dozens of public work tenders that were awarded in the southern province of Santa Cruz, which is Kirchner's political stronghold, where many of the construction projects were never completed.
Following the news of the conviction, supporters of Kirchner vowed to take to the streets for a nationwide strike. They clogged downtown Buenos Aires and continued to march on the federal court building while beating drums and shouting as they pressed against police barriers trying to keep them out, the Associated Press reported.
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