MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

CFK followers planning response in case former president's conviction is upheld

The CSJN is expected to uphold CFK's conviction Tuesday, thus exhausting the chain of appeals, which would result in her detention

Followers of former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) were planning a response at the Instituto Patria (IP) headquarters in Buenos Aires, should the Supreme Court uphold the six-year prison sentence against their leader, thus exhausting the chain of appeals, which would lead to her arrest, even though she could later apply for a home detention regime for which she would be eligible for being aged over 70.

Her conviction would also entail a lifelong disenfranchisement, thus rendering her unable to run for any electoral office this year. She has already announced she would be pursuing a position as a lawmaker at the Buenos Aires provincial Lower House on Sept. 7.

CFK's allies view the case against her as judicial persecution aimed at preventing her political comeback, driven by the ruling party, former President Mauricio Macri, and economic elites.

The meeting at the IP, involving legislators, unions, and social movements, aims to organize a mobilization if the ruling is confirmed. Critics warn that upholding the sentence could undermine democracy, likening it to historical political bans in Argentina.

The Supreme Court faces pressure to issue an “express ruling” before Fernández's candidacy deadline on July 19, with potential for significant domestic and international backlash if she is disqualified.

“This is not a problem of Cristina, it is a problem of democracy,” one of her followers told local media as a final CSJN ruling in the so-called “Vialidad” case seems imminent. “If the sentence is ratified, the democracy that we were able to build from 1983 onwards will come to an end and democracy with proscriptions will begin, as we had to live with Perón,” the Peronist militants insisted.

As CFK is scheduled to make a public appearance during an event commemorating the slaughtering of Peronists in the aftermath of the 1955 coup d'état and with the CSJN expected to announce its ruling Tuesday, her followers pledged to remain in a “state of alert and mobilization.”