MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former Argentine Vice President Boudou granted parole

Boudou had his anklet device removed

Former Argentine Vice President Amado Boudou (2011-2015) has been granted parole after serving two-thirds of his prison sentence for a case of corruption.

Boudou, who was also Economy Minister between 2009 and 2011 during Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's first term as President, had been found guilty for his involvement in that capacity in the buy over of the Ciccone Calcográfica company which had been traditionally involved with the printing of banknotes.

Judge Ricardo Basilico Thursday allowed Boudou to return to the streets for time served. The former official had been “commuting” from house arrest to effective stays at correctional facilities as judges kept changing their views on the case. Boudou was currently under house arrest, having been released from jail due to covid-19 concerns.

Basílico's ruling came days after a court of appeals changed Boudou's sentence thanks to rehabilitation courses he took while in detention.

Since the beginning of April 2020, Boudou had been under house arrest -although wearing a monitoring device- in his apartment in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Barracas for humanitarian grounds not to be exposed to possible covid-19 contagion if in contact with several other prison inmates, something which was granted to a large number of detainees at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Prosecutor Marcelo Colombo had ruled last Friday in favour of granting parole to Boudou, who had been sentenced to five years and ten months in prison. He was the first Argentine Vice President ever to be prosecuted for a case of corruption.

Although allowed to walk around freely, Boudou is still not able to leave the country without prior authorization and he must seek permission to change his place of residence, although he has had his anklet device removed.

In 2018, together with his prison sentence, Boudou had been handed down a lifelong ban from holding public office and a small fine.