MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former First Lady files criminal complaint against Alberto Fernández

Yáñez spoke with Judge Ercolini through a video conference from Spain to tell her side of the story

Former Argentine First Lady Fabiola Yáñez Tuesday filed a criminal complaint against her then-common-law spouse and head of state Alberto Fernández for exerting “gender violence” against her. The case ended up in the court of Federal Judge Julián Ercolini, who banned Fernández from leaving the country, coming anywhere near the mother of his son Francisco, or even contacting her on the telephone.

Yáñez presented her claims through a virtual hearing from Spain where she is residing with the child, born in 2022, and who has been said not to be Fernández's blood offspring. Journalist Silvia Mercado argued in a radio interview earlier this week and before the gender violence denunciation that she had proof that Fernández was not Francisco's biological father, although he will have to support him financially. Mercado even mentioned that the actual father would be “a friend of Fabiola's.”

According to local media, Yáñez explained in her testimony before the court that Fernández had exerted ”physical and mental violence“ against her. Yáñez even spoke of ”psychological terrorism“ and ”telephone harassment,” it was reported.

Ercolini had already asked Yáñez a month ago if she wanted to file a complaint. At that time she replied she had no intention of traveling to Argentina for that. However, Argentine media speculate that something in the past few days made her change her mind.

Pictures proving the violence against Yáñez were reported to have been found in the cell phone of former presidential secretary María Cantero during an inquiry into the alleged mishandling of public funds for the retaining of some insurance policies brokered by Cantero's husband. Press reports mentioned four photos of Yáñez, one with one eye and part of the upper jaw swollen and another with bruises all over the right side of her torso, ribs, and armpit. There is also a video of a person (probably Fernández) in a very violent attitude towards her.

On Monday, Yáñez's lawyer Juan Pablo Fioribello said that his client and Fernández had only had an argument like all couples have. “He told me: 'I swear to God that in my life I never hit a woman. I had and I have a thousand defects and many mistakes, like any person, more or less because of the political things I lived, but if I am sure of something is that in my life I had an act of violence and of hitting a woman',” Fioribello quoted Fernández as saying in a TV interview.

Given the news, Fernández posted a disclaimer on social media noting that “I will only say that it is false.” He insisted that things never happened the way they were being portrayed now and that in due course he would appear before the court with evidence and testimonies vouching for him.

“Having been informed by the media of Fabiola Yáñez's accusation against me, I want to express that the truth of the facts is different. I am only going to say that it is false and that what she now accuses me of never happened,” he wrote.

“For the integrity of my children, of myself, and also of Fabiola herself, I will not make any media statements, but I will bring to the Judiciary the evidence and testimonies that will show what really happened,” added Fernández.