MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Prosecutors want CFK transferred from house arrest to prison

The prosecution highlighted the negative social impact of the convicted CFK in the Buenos Aires City apartment

Prosecutors Diego Luciani and Sergio Mola, who got former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) sentenced to six years in jail for corruption in the so-called Vialidad Case, on Monday filed for her to be stripped of her house arrest privileges and be sent to an ordinary correctional facility.

Luciani and Mola argue that the conditions of her current incarceration has an overproportionate social impact, in addition to posing additional security risks. The Federal Court of Cassation’s Fourth Chamber, made up of Justices Mariano Borinsky, Gustavo Hornos, and Diego Barroetaveña, will decide on this 33-page brief.

“We cannot ignore the negative social impact that how the sentence has been carried out has had, not only because it does not respect the rule of effective enforcement of sentences, but also because of the distortion that can be seen in the way in which house arrest is being carried out,” the prosecutors argued regarding CFK's apartment in the Constitución neighborhood in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, where the former president is an electronic anklet and follows strict visiting hours.

The prosecutors also contend that there are no medical or health reasons that justify house arrest, nor does the former president's age (72) require it. “There are no humanitarian reasons that justify it,” they insisted. Convicted people aged over 70 are eligible for house arrest, but its granting is not binding for magistrates.

Hence, the prosecution underlined that house arrest “may” be an option and that if additional protection is required due to her status as a former head of State or because of the 2022 assassination attempt against her, there are adequate federal facilities where those concerns can be dealt with properly.

Under the present regime, only family members, lawyers, doctors, and authorized guards may visit CFK, who has also been ordered to refrain from any behavior that would disturb the neighbors.

CFK's detention place is of particular significance given Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's presence in Buenos Aires later this week for the Mercosur Summit, during which he said he would be seeking to visit his longtime friend.