Court rules Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will serve six-year prison term at home

A judge on Tuesday granted a request by former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to serve her six-year prison sentence for corruption under house arrest.
The ruling, which stipulated that she wear an electronic surveillance device, came a week after the Supreme Court upheld Fernández de Kirchner's conviction over the awarding of public works contracts during her 2007-2015 presidency.
Judge Jorge Gorini, leading Federal Oral Court No. 2, granted the request despite being petitioned to deny the request by prosecutors.

He informed the former president and national chair of the Partido Justicialista (PJ) of the decision on Tuesday afternoon.

The decision means Fernández de Kirchner will not need to surrender herself to the authorities at the Comodoro Py federal courthouse as planned this Wednesday – a state of affairs that had prompted various groups to call for a massive protest march to accompany her.

Prosecutors Diego Luciani and Sergio Mola had asked the Federal Oral Court No. 2 to reject the former president’s request. According to judicial sources, their opinion – which is non-binding – was submitted mid-morning.

The prosecutors argued that “there are no humanitarian grounds justifying the granting of an exceptional measure such as house arrest” for the 72-year-old former president, despite the fact that she is eligible to receive the benefit given she is two years older than the threshold requires.

They also pointed to a lack of "health or personal reasons suggesting that incarceration would compromise a dignified or humane treatment."

“Being deprived of liberty in a prison facility does not, in and of itself, imply harm to Ms Fernández’s life or physical integrity,” argued Luciani and Mola.

The decision to grant house arrest comes in spite of concerns from the Buenos Aires City government, which has warned of potential “negative effects” of the ruling, such as increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the area close to Fernández de Kirchner’s residence.

Argentina's Supreme Court last week upheld Fernández de Kirchner’s fraud conviction as well as a sentence of six years and a lifelong ban on holding public office.

This closed off the final appeal avenue after the ex-president was convicted in 2022 of fraud.

Fernández de Kirchner, who survived a botched assassination attempt in September 2022, cited security reasons for her request for house arrest and pointed out that as a former president, she was entitled to lifelong police protection, which she would not enjoy in prison.

– TIMES/AFP/NA