Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register BUENOS AIRES, Aug 22 (Reuters) – Argentina’s federal prosecutor sought a 12-year prison sentence on Monday for Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the country’s former president and current vice president, on corruption charges related to public works. Prosecutor Diego Luciani accused Fernandez de Kirchner, still an influential voice on the left wing of the ruling Peronist party, of defrauding the state and engaging in a scheme to divert public funds when he was president between 2007 and 2015. The sentence will be known in months, according to local media, although Fernandez de Kirchner could appeal it to higher courts, which will take years to reach a final verdict. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “This is probably the biggest corruption maneuver the country has ever known,” Luciani said in arguing for the sentence, which has sparked new political tension in the South American country. On Twitter, Fernandez de Kirchner, who testified at the court in 2019, said she was facing an “administrative media detachment” and “not a constitutional court.” The former president added that she was not given the opportunity to testify about new evidence in the case and will present her defense on social media on Tuesday. Argentine President Alberto Fernandez condemned the decision on Twitter, describing the decision in a statement as a case of prosecution. “None of the acts attributed to the former president have been proven,” the statement said. The prosecutor also sought a lifetime ban on Fernandez de Kirchner from holding public office. Later on Monday, local police dispersed dozens of protesters outside Kirchner’s home in the capital Buenos Aires, with camps both against and in favor of the prosecutor’s request, local television reported. The investigation seeks to determine whether she and other officials in her administration favored companies owned by businessman Lazaro Baez in bidding processes for dozens of public projects in the southern region of Patagonia, many of which were overpriced or never completed. Many experts suspect that the allegedly diverted capital would have returned to the hands of the Kirchner family through their companies. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Nicholas Misculin and Jorge Otaola. Editing: Margaret Choy, Stephen Coates and Sam Holmes Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
