MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

CFK granted house arrest, albeit with tracking anklet

CFK will have to wear a tracking anklet for the next six years and request a court authorization to leave her residence, except in cases of force majeure, and abstain from waving from the balcony

Buenos Aires Federal Court #2 Justices Jorge Gorini and Rodrigo Giménez Uriburu, plus Federal Judge Andrés Fabián Basso Tuesday granted former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) the possibility of serving her 6-year prison sentence for her involvement in the so-called Vialidad corruption scandal under a house arrest regime, given that she is over 70 years of age and therefore eligible for the measure.

The ruling, made through a video hearing, suppresses CFK's prior appointment at the Comodoro Py Courthouse.

She will now remain at the apartment in Buenos Aires' Constitución neighborhood, “except in exceptional situations of force majeure that must be duly justified.” Otherwise, she would need to seek prior court authorization to leave the premises. In addition, she must submit within 48 hours a list of family members, security personnel, physicians, and lawyers allowed to visit her without court approval. Any other visitors require prior clearance.

In addition, she will need to wear a permanent tracking anklet and refrain from engaging in activities that may disrupt public order, as her constant appearances at the balcony over the past few days did.

Despite Tuesday's decision that kept her from being sent to prison, her followers from the Justicialist (Peronist) Party, headed by CFK's son Máximo Kirchner and other political forces, plus various labor unions, will stage a protest at 10 am Wednesday, in the vicinity of the building where she now resides.

Prosecutors Diego Luciani and Sergio Mola had argued that house arrest was an option for the court but not necessarily the only one and insisted that in this case it lacked humanitarian justification, given CFK's apparent good health. “It is an exception to the serving of a custodial sentence. Its concession should not be automatically admitted by the mere circumstance that the convicted person is included in any of the assumptions listed in the law,” they contended.

Her attorney, Carlos Beraldi, however, invoked her age and security concerns from a 2022 assassination attempt. CFK was formally notified of her new status at around 6.30 pm local time (GMT -3) at her home.

The court may change this decision should the former president fail to comply with the conditions it entails, in which case she would be sent to a correctional facility.