Argentina prosecutor seeks 12-year prison term for country’s vice-president

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Argentine federal prosecutor Diego Luciani on Monday sought a 12-year prison term for Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the country’s current vice-president and former president, on corruption charges.

​​Kirchner, 69, is accused of fraudulently awarding public works contracts during her two terms as president between 2007 and 2015.

A trial over the “Vialidad” or “Transport” case began in 2019 and is investigating alleged corruption in the awarding and overpricing of bids for public works projects in the southern province of Santa Cruz.

The case also covers the four-year period when Kirchner’s late husband, Nestor Kirchner, was president. Most of the contracts benefitted a Kirchner family ally, Lazaro Baez, who has already been convicted of corruption.

"There were systematic irregularities in 51 bids over 12 years. The evidence shows conclusively that there were illicit schemes. It is not credible that Cristina Fernández was not aware of anything in the solitude of her office," said Luciani in his closing argument.

"This is probably the biggest corruption scheme that has ever been known in the country," he added.

Vice-president Kirchner has denied the accusations and has asked to testify on Wednesday, given that, she said, "the prosecutors raised questions in their accusation that had never been raised.”

Luciani also sought "special life disqualification" from public office for Kirchner, who has political immunity while she acts as the nation’s vice-president and president of the Senate.

After learning of the request made by the prosecutor, President Alberto Fernandez regretted the move.

“Today is a very ungrateful day for someone who, like me, has grown up in the family of a judge, has been educated in the world of law and has been teaching Criminal Law for more than three decades. I again convey my deepest affection and solidarity to the vice president," he wrote on Twitter.

Argentinians are divided between those who say it is a conspiracy against the vice-president and those who want to see her in prison. In spite of her many opponents, Kirchner is still one of the most powerful politicians in the country.