MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

CFK may show up at balcony, court says

The former President needs to make sure not to alter the neighborhood's normal life

Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK), under house arrest for a conviction in the Vialidad corruption case, has been fitted with an electronic anklet to monitor her location, as ordered by Oral Federal Criminal Court No. 2 (TOF 2)

In addition, the court clarified Thursday that she can show up at her apartment’s balcony in the Constitución neighborhood in, Buenos Aires, provided she does not disturb neighbors or the neighborhood’s tranquility.

“The court has not prohibited the use and enjoyment of any specific space of the architecture of the property in which the applicant lives,” Judges Jorge Gorini and Rodrigo Gimenez Uriburu ruled. However, “the applicant is expected to have sufficient criteria, prudence and common sense to discern in which context the use of the balcony will be an innocuous action and in which context it may imply a disturbance to the tranquility and peaceful coexistence of the neighborhoo,” they added. Hence, “the court considers that the uncertainty brought to study has been clarified.”

This decision followed a request from CFK's defense for clarification on her mobility limits. The anklet, connected to a GPS-like home unit, triggers an alarm if she moves more than five meters from the device.

Kirchner, chairwoman of the Justicialist (Peronist) Party, is serving a six-year sentence with perpetual disqualification from public office.

Meanwhile, President Javier Milei ruled out pardoning her. “To me, the pardon seems aberrant,” he said.