Cause "Roads": What follows after the conviction of Cristina Kirchner?
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(CNN Spanish) --
The Vice President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was sentenced this Tuesday by a federal judge for crimes against the public administration for which she insists on her innocence.
After learning of her sentence, Fernández de Kirchner said she would not run for any public office in the near future and she branded the judiciary as a "mafia."
Fernández de Kirchner was found guilty of fraudulent administration and damage to the public administration during a period that spans his two presidencies (2007-2011 and 2011-2015), through the extraction of State funds for his personal benefit or that of a third party. .
The court sentenced her to 6 years in prison.
Although Fernández de Kirchner will not go to prison for the moment until the sentence is final, also because the vice president has jurisdiction, the decision of Justice will generate more uncertainty in a country that is experiencing an economic crisis and strong political antagonism.
The road in the 'Vialidad' case, which investigates fraud against the public administration, is not closed and a long judicial path is expected between defenses, appeals and possible political disputes in a country that will go to elections at the end of 2023.
This is what follows in this case.
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The central points that Cristina Kirchner addressed in her allegations 1:24
A long legal road
Although the courts convicted Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of crimes against the public administration, the truth is that neither she nor the other defendants in the case were convicted of another, more serious crime: that of illicit association, of which they were also accused. accused.
The Prosecutor's Office accused the vice president of having led an illegal association to direct, together with other officials, million-dollar road works contracts that, according to the complaint, were incomplete, overpriced and even unnecessary.
But although this Tuesday there was a ruling, Fernández de Kirchner will not go to prison, since she is protected by jurisdiction.
Now, the first step is to wait until March 9, 2023, which is when the court will give the grounds for the sentence, both the grounds for deciding the sentence for fraudulent fraud, and for absorbing it from the illicit association. , CNN's Emilia Delfino reported.
Once the grounds are given by the judge, it is then when the parties will appeal before the Federal Chamber of Cassation, the highest criminal court in the country, before going to the Supreme Court of Justice, for which a period of time is expected. throughout legal proceedings.
Finally, the sentence against the vice president cannot be executed until it is final.
And for this, a long judicial process is still expected to pass, in addition to waiting for the acquittal and innocence to be maintained in the respective cases against the accused.
What will Cristina Kirchner do after her conviction?
Longobardi's analysis 11:47
What comes for Cristina Fernandez
Upon learning of the sentence, the vice president spoke out against it, and said that it is a political persecution by a judicial "mafia".
According to what she previously said, this accusation of corruption —the only one against the vice president that has reached the oral trial— has no foundation and is a persecution against her and the political project that she represents.
Regarding her political future, the vice president said that in the near future she would not run as a presidential candidate next year.
"I am not going to subject the political force that gave me the honor of being twice president and vice president to be mistreated during the electoral period with a 'condemned candidate', with 'perpetual disqualification', with 'fraudulent administration by the state' (...) Well, I'm not going to be a candidate," said the vice president.
She then insisted that she "is not going to be a candidate for anything" and that her name "is not going to be on any ballot."
Due to the nature of the case, it is expected that the resolution will take longer.
In the event that the sentence against the current vice president is carried out, Fernández de Kirchner, as a last resort, could go to house arrest -- she will turn 70 in February 2023 -- for which reason preventive detention in a federal prison is ruled out .
-- With information from Emilia Delfino of CNN in Buenos Aires.
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
