The Vice President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández, has stated that the court trying her for an alleged corruption scheme in the so-called ‘Vialidad case’ is actually «a firing squad», in her last turn to speak before the verdict is known on December 6.
Fernandez, who has appeared again by videoconference, has assured that the purpose of this process is to «stigmatize» her government and try to overshadow the «achievements» obtained, allegedly with «lies» that she herself has tried to expose both in court and in social networks.
In her Twitter account, she has published «the twenty lies of the Causa Vialidad’, with which she intends to show that the accusations are unfounded. Thus, she dissociates herself from orders, visits and procedures that, in the opinion of the Prosecutor’s Office, do prove the corrupt acts.
«The sentence is written, but I never thought it would be so badly written,» she lamented in her appearance on Tuesday, which lasted about 20 minutes and in which she spoke again of «judicial party» to warn of the alleged political persecution against her, according to local media.
Fernandez sits in the dock as an alleged participant in an illegal scheme to defraud the State through the concession of public works in Santa Cruz, along with more than a dozen defendants. The Public Prosecutor’s Office estimates in 5,321 million pesos (about 31 million euros at the current exchange rate) the amount defrauded by a network that also splashes the late husband of the vice-president, Néstor Kirchner, and former officials such as former minister Julio de Vido.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested twelve years in prison against Fernández, for whom it has also demanded political disqualification for life, although the final result will vary depending not only on whether she is guilty or innocent but also on the extent to which the judge considers that the former president headed a criminal association.
