UPDATE - Argentina’s vice president given 6-year prison sentence on graft charges

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By Bala Chambers

BUENOS AIRES (AA) - A federal court in Argentina sentenced Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to six years in prison Tuesday and banned her from holding public office.

Fernandez de Kirchner was found guilty by a three-judge panel of committing a $1 billion fraud over the awarding of public works contracts in the southern province of Santa Cruz during her tenure as president.

Judge Jorge Gorini delivered the verdict via videoconference in the presence of two other judges, Rodrigo Gimenez Uriburu and Andres Basso.

Gorini said an "extraordinarily fraudulent maneuver took place" in reference to the sentencing, which took three years to reach.

The judges will have 40 business days to make their full arguments known to the public, according to local news agency Noticias Argentinas.

Following her sentencing, Fernandez de Kirchner took to YouTube in a live broadcast on her channel, condemning the charges against her.

"This is neither lawfare nor judicial party. This is a parallel state and judicial mafia," she said.

"The real sentence is not prison. It is perpetual disqualification from holding public office," she added, alleging that the sentence related to the economic model of development she oversaw as president, which she recognized as citizens’ rights in the country.

Fernandez de Kirchner also referenced an assassination attempt against her in September this year, insisting that her opponents in the country either want her in "jail or dead."

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez condemned the sentence against Fernandez de Kirchner in a number of tweets.

"Today, in Argentina, an innocent person has been condemned. Someone whom the powers that be (in the country) tried to stigmatize via the media and (who was) persecuted by complacent judges who ride around in private jets and (stay in) luxury mansions on weekends," wrote Fernandez

The president also hit out at the judges involved in the case and at one of the largest media conglomerates in Argentina. ​​​​​​​

Fernandez also argued that due process had not been followed, insisting that he is standing in "solidarity" with Fernandez de Kirchner, describing her as a "victim of an absolutely unfair persecution."

Earlier in the day, hundreds of supporters of Fernandez de Kirchner demonstrated at the federal court in the capital Buenos Aires, with many carrying banners denouncing what they perceived as political persecution against her.

Fernandez de Kirchner will face no immediate consequences as the sentence will need to be upheld by the country's Supreme Court.

According to the verdict, she is barred from holding public office but as head of the Senate and a legislator is protected from prosecution.

Fernandez de Kirchner learned of her sentence from her office at the Senate.

In the past, the vice president alleged that she has been targeted by her political opponents, describing the case against her as "lawfare."

Last Tuesday, she characterized a court case against her as a "firing squad," insisting that the sentence against her was "already written."

Federal prosecutors accused Fernandez de Kirchner of awarding fraudulent and overpriced public works contracts in Santa Cruz during her two-term tenure as president from 2007-2015 and have been pushing for a 12-year prison sentence and lifetime ban from holding public office.

Many of the contracts allegedly benefitted close allies of the Kirchner family, some of which have already been convicted of corruption.