An Argentine judge on Thursday ordered ex-Argentine president Alberto Fernandez, 66, to stand trial for alleged corruption relating to insurance policies taken out by government departments during his 2019-to-2023 term.
Fernandez would be prosecuted for “negotiations incompatible with the exercise of public office,” according to Judge Sebastian Casanello’s decision, published in Argentine media and confirmed by defense lawyer Mariana Barbitta.
Barbitta called it “an arbitrary, unfounded decision” that her team would appeal.
Photo: AFP
Fernandez stands accused of fraudulent administration over his government’s use of brokers — one of whom allegedly had ties to his office — to contract insurance policies that could have been negotiated directly.
The main broker was allegedly the husband of Fernandez’s personal secretary.
The former president was aware of the arrangement, the judge’s brief said.
Fernandez has denied any wrongdoing.
The judge found the former president had “created and enabled a permissive environment” that allowed his close circle to profit, Argentine daily newspaper The Nation reported the ruling as saying.
The former secretary, her husband and about 30 others would also face trial in the case.
Fernandez did not seek re-election after serving a single term.
The corruption allegations emerged when a court ordered an examination of his secretary’s phone while investigating assault claims made against Fernandez by his former partner Fabiola Yanez.
Yanez filed a complaint accusing Fernandez of having beaten her during their relationship, which ended after he left office.
He faces a separate trial on charges of domestic abuse.
The graft case involves policies taken out with Nacion Seguros, the insurance arm of state-owned Banco Nacion, which Fernandez chose to cover government departments against various types of risks.
Casanello ordered a freeze on about US$11 million of Fernandez’s assets, Thursday’s ruling showed.
Fernandez’s leftist Peronist movement, which dominated Argentine politics for most of the country’s post-war history, has been dogged by allegations of corruption.
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
COMFORT WOMEN CLASH: Japan has strongly rejected South Korean court rulings ordering the government to provide reparations to Korean victims of sexual slavery The Japanese government yesterday defended its stance on wartime sexual slavery and described South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese compensation as violations of international law, after UN investigators criticized Tokyo for failing to ensure truth-finding and reparations for the victims. In its own response to UN human rights rapporteurs, South Korea called on Japan to “squarely face up to our painful history” and cited how Tokyo’s refusal to comply with court orders have denied the victims payment. The statements underscored how the two Asian US allies still hold key differences on the issue, even as they pause their on-and-off disputes over historical
CONSOLIDATION: The Indonesian president has used the moment to replace figures from former president Jokowi’s tenure with loyal allies In removing Indonesia’s finance minister and U-turning on protester demands, the leader of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is scrambling to restore public trust while seizing a chance to install loyalists after deadly riots last month, experts say. Demonstrations that were sparked by low wages, unemployment and anger over lawmakers’ lavish perks grew after footage spread of a paramilitary police vehicle running over a delivery motorcycle driver. The ensuing riots, which rights groups say left at least 10 dead and hundreds detained, were the biggest of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s term, and the ex-general is now calling on the public to restore their
RSS