A three-judge panel sentenced Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on Tuesday to serve six years in prison in a corruption trial that has engulfed much of the South American nation.
A lifetime ban from holding public office was also handed down. In addition to holding the vice presidential post, Kirchner previously served as president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015.
Prosecutors had asked for a 12-year prison sentence along with a lifetime ban.
However, Fernández will not have to serve her sentence in the immediate future since she has immunity as a head of state. Two-thirds of lawmakers in Argentina's upper chamber of congress would have to vote to strip her of her immunity, which is not expected because of her allies' control of that chamber.
Argentine criminal defense lawyer Flavio Andres Garisoine told Sputnik that Kirchner, despite her sentence, could run in the next presidential election in the country as not all the courts have passed the verdict and the sentence is not final yet.
"This is only the first instance. She can file an appeal, consideration of which can [take] until the end of next year. Then she will be able to appeal to the Supreme Court of Argentina... If her appeal is accepted, the Supreme Court has no specific deadlines for the consideration [of the case]," the lawyer said, adding: "Therefore, she can be a candidate and run in elections."
The lawyer added that even if the verdict is approved by all the instances, Kirchner, who is now 69, would turn 70 by that time. In this case, in accordance with Argentine law, she would serve her sentence at home, the lawyer said.
However, despite the possibility of of running again in 2023, the vice president has stated she has no intention to run in the next election cycle.
"I will not be a candidate. The good news... On December 10, 2023, I will no longer be the vice president, so you can order that I be sent to prison... I will not be a candidate for any post: neither for the president's post nor a senator's post," Kirchner said in her address to the prosecution.
Fernández has slammed the charges as being politically motivated and accused prosecutors of lying. She denies all wrongdoing.
“This [the actions of the judiciary] is a parallel state and mafia,” she said in a livestream following the verdict. She had previously referred to the trial as a "firing squad."
Fernández has been accused of graft and having an illicit association with a construction magnate Lázaro Báez during her time as president, which led to 51 public work contracts going to Báez in exchange for bribes.
Báez was also a supporter of the vice president's husband Nestor Kirchner, who served as president from 2003 to 2007. Nestor Kirchner died in 2010. Báez was sentenced to 12 years in prison last year for money laundering.
In September, Fernández survived an assassination attempt. A gunman in a crowd was seen on video pointing a gun at the vice president's head and pulling the trigger but the gun backfired, likely saving her life. A 35-year-old Brazilian national, Fernando Andres Sabag Montiel, was arrested as the alleged gunman.
Video: Assassination Attempt Foiled in Argentina After Suspect Pulls Handgun on VP Cristina Kirchner
2 September 2022, 01:27 GMT