Cristina Kirchner goes on trial for bribery allegations in Argentina’s “notebooks” scandal while serving house arrest for previous fraud conviction
BUENOS AIRES: Former Argentine president Cristina Kirchner faces a new corruption trial over allegations she accepted millions in bribes.
The 72-year-old is already serving a six-year fraud sentence under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor.
This separate case involves the “notebooks” scandal where a government chauffeur recorded cash bribes allegedly delivered to officials between 2003-2015.
Kirchner is accused of leading a criminal enterprise that took bribes from businesspeople in exchange for state contracts.
Eighty-seven people are charged in the case, including a former minister and several junior ministers.
The trial begins as Kirchner’s Peronist movement reels from defeat in last month’s midterm elections.
Right-wing President Javier Milei hailed the election result as validation of his free-market agenda.
Kirchner maintains she is the victim of politically-inspired judicial persecution.
Her lawyers question the credibility of the chauffeur’s notebooks, noting they were changed over 1,500 times.
It remains unclear whether Kirchner will appear via video-conference from her Buenos Aires home.
If convicted, she faces between six and 10 years in prison in what is expected to be a lengthy trial.
Kirchner served as president from 2007-2015 after her husband Nestor Kirchner’s term ended.
She later served as vice president from 2019-2023 until Milei took office. – AFP
