Supreme Court upholds ex-VP Boudou’s graft conviction

Amado Boudou, who occupied the current post held by Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in her second presidential term between 2011 and 2015 and who had previously been her Economy minister as from 2009, stands to spend Christmas in prison after the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld his 70-month sentence for irregularities in the sale of the Ciccone money-printing firm.

Boudou had been granted house arrest last April after having served 20 months of his sentence in prison, precisely because his lawyers had argued that his court conviction could not be considered final without confirmation from the Supreme Court – judge Daniel Obligado accepted this argument and the presumption of innocence at the time, although his decision was promptly appealed. At 58, Boudou is well below the age permitting house arrest (70) and nor does he belong to any coronavirus risk group even though his exit from prison last autumn coincided with the release of many convicts on those grounds, a controversial issue at that time.

Since Boudou spent over 10 months remanded in custody prior to the 20 months of his sentence already served, he may only have a couple more years to go with good behaviour.

Nevertheless, Boudou did not take kindly to his changing fortunes, frenetically making virtual contacts with Kirchnerite militants yesterday to criticise the Alberto Fernández presidency for its inaction on his behalf. 

His lawyer Graciana Peñafort also argued that his future was something which should be decided politically rather than judicially after the government’s proposed judicial reforms had cleared “lawfare” from the horizon.

– TIMES