Argentine President Alberto Fernandez and the first lady have paid a fine of 3 million pesos (about $24,000), in the form of a charitable donation, in return for the abandonment of legal proceedings for a birthday dinner in full confinement which had caused a scandal.
A federal judge on Monday approved the president's
"economic reparation"
proposal , a possibility provided for by law, and the payment of 1.6 million pesos to a prestigious bacteriological and vaccine research institute, the Malbran Institute.
His companion Fabiola Yañez had proposed 1.4 million, which were also approved.
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A prior agreement had been reached between the Head of State and the prosecutor's office, which required validation by a judge.
Its decision emphasizes that
"there is no controversy between the parties as to the legal qualification of the act (...), the extent of the damage, and the proportionality of the offer"
, under which the reparation agreement could be approved.
Justice, seized in particular by the opposition, had opened an investigation for breach of the health protocol against Alberto Fernandez, center-left president in power since the end of 2019, after the leak in 2021 of photos of a birthday dinner given on July 14, 2020 for the first lady at the official residence of Olivos, in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.
The country, more particularly the capital, was at that time subject to strict confinement, with a ban on meetings, including for funerals.
Contrite, Alberto Fernandez, himself a professor of criminal law, had pleaded
“not a malicious act, but recklessness and negligence”
, an
“error, a skid”
in a context of
“pandemic management maelstrom”.
He presented himself to justice and offered to pay four times half his salary to the Malbran Institute.
The prosecutor had symbolically fixed the repair at the price of a respiratory assistance device, and a stay in intensive care.
According to several Argentine media, the head of state would have taken out a bank loan to be able to pay the fine.
The publication of a photo of the dinner, with a dozen guests, had triggered a deluge of criticism, in the opposition but also the majority.
According to some analysts, it had had a strong impact in the run-up to the midterm legislative elections of November 2021, where the ruling coalition lost the majority in the Senate.
Alberto Fernandez, 63, has been in a relationship since 2014 with Fabiola Yañez, a 40-year-old former journalist, host and actress.
She gave birth to a baby in April.
Alberto Fernandez is already the father of a 27-year-old child from a previous union.
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