Kirchner will present defense against sentence to 12 years in prison for corruption

The vice president, Cristina Kirchner, will speak with judges on Friday ().| Photo: EFE

The defense of Cristina Kirchner in the trial of the Vialidad case will begin this Monday (10) with the presentation of her lawyer, Carlos Alberto Beraldi, and will end on Friday (13) with the vice president herself, at a distance, before the Federal Court.

Beraldi and lawyer Ary Llernovoy must refute the accusation by prosecutors Diego Luciani and Sergio Mola, who asked for the conviction of Cristina Kirchner to years in prison for considering her head of an illicit association and responsible for the crime of fraud against the State. They also asked for perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

According to Luciani, 51 works that were under the care of businessman Lázaro Baez in the city of Santa Cruz, and in 23 from them he managed illegal maneuvers to increase the budget. In addition, almost half of the works were abandoned.

Cristina Kirchner was also accused of hiring employees and managers, among them the Secretary of Public Works José López, to keep this machine of corruption “in a city 41 times smaller than Buenos Aires, but with higher funds”. Santa Cruz would have been chosen for being “the ideal place to carry out these maneuvers with impunity”.

The defense aims to refute the accusation sent by Luciani, trying to demonstrate that there is no direct relationship between Cristina Kirchner and the direction of public works in Santa Catarina. Cruz in favor of businessman Lázaro Báez.