Sawt Falasteen - Argentine court orders $500 mn forfeiture in ex-pres. Kirchner graft case

In a ruling seen by AFP on Wednesday, a federal court ordered the forfeiture of more than 100 assets, including properties, owned by 72-year-old Kirchner, two of her children, and others.

Kirchner, a dominant and polarizing figure in Argentine politics for over two decades, was first lady from 2003-2007, when her late husband Nestor Kirchner was president.

She succeeded him for two terms until 2015 and later served as vice president to Alberto Fernandez from 2019 until 2023, when Javier Milei took office.

In June, Argentina's Supreme Court upheld her corruption conviction over the awarding of public works contracts in the southern Patagonia region when she was president.

She was allowed to serve her sentence under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor, banned from holding public office for the rest of her life and ordered to pay back nearly $500 million.

In the ruling issued late Tuesday, the court ordered the seizure of assets for the same value, to "restore the illicitly obtained assets -- and their derivatives -- to the State... and at the same time compensate society for the material and symbolic damages resulting from the criminal conduct."

The order covers a property Kirchner owns in Santa Cruz province in the Patagonian region, and 19 assets transferred to her two children.

It also names 84 assets of businessman Lazaro Baez, who is serving time for corruption in road works in Santa Cruz during the administrations of Kirchner and her husband.

- 'I am not afraid' -

Kirchner is also on trial in a second graft case involving millions of dollars in cash bribes allegedly paid by businesspeople to government officials for the awarding of state contracts.

It has been described by prosecutors as "the biggest ever corruption investigation in Argentina's legal history," with over 80 defendants.

Trial hearings in that case are taking place via video conference because there is no courtroom in Argentina large enough to hold all the accused and their lawyers.

Kirchner, a charismatic politician revered by many on the left but detested by the right, maintains she is the victim of a right-wing judicial hounding aimed at destroying her career.

At the Buenos Aires apartment where she is serving her sentence, she has been receiving allied politicians, greeting supporters from the balcony, and posting frequent criticism of Milei's budget-slashing policies.

The same court on Tuesday imposed restrictions on her visitation, limited in future to groups of no more than three people up to twice weekly for no more than two hours.

This came after criticism of a reported meeting between Kirchner and nine economists which had not been previously cleared.

Claiming to be in Milei's crosshairs, she said on X she was being targeted for holding a meeting on the subject of the economy, which she insists the incumbent president is ruining.

"I am not afraid. I know that history, as always, will put things in their place," Kirchner said in another post earlier this month.

"They can invent cases, manipulate judges, or write rulings, but they will not stop the organization of Peronism" -- the political movement she is associated with, named for ex-leader Juan Peron.

Kirchner's attorney in the case did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

A.AlHaj--SF-PST