Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was convicted and sentenced to 6 years in prison and a lifetime ban from holding public office for a fraud scheme that embezzled USD 1 billion through public works projects during her presidency.
A three-judge panel Tuesday found the Peronist leader guilty of fraud, but rejected a charge of running a criminal organization, for which the sentence could have been 12 years in prison. It's the first time an Argentine vice president has been convicted of a crime while in office.
The sentence isn't firm until appeals are decided, a process that could take years. She'll remains immune from arrest meanwhile, as long as she can keep getting elected.
Speaking after the verdict, she described herself as the victim of a “judicial mafia.”
Her supporters vowed to paralyze the country with a nationwide strike. They clogged downtown Buenos Aires and marched on the federal court building, beating drums and shouting as they pressed against police barriers.
Fernández roundly denied all the accusations. Argentina's dominant leader this century, she was accused of improperly granting public works contracts to a construction magnate closely tied to her family.
The verdict is certain to deepen fissures in the South American nation, where politics can be a blood sport and the 69-year-old populist leader is either loved or hated.