Argentina President Alberto Fernández Accused of Threatening Prosecutor for Investigating Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Argentina Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is currently under investigation for corruption, with the trial already underway. However, her most powerful political ally, President Alberto Fernández, has been engulfed in his own controversy in trying to help her out.
According to the Associated Press, President Fernández said he hoped the prosecutor leading the corruption trial against his vice president does not kill himself like what happened to the other prosecutor who investigated her.
This is in reference to prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who died of a gunshot wound in January 2015, right before he was scheduled to present evidence against then-President Cristina Fernández, now the vice president of Argentina. He previously accused her of conspiring with Iran to cover up its alleged involvement in the bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center in 1994.
While the opposition argued that he was either murdered or was forced to kill himself, allies of the former Argentine president and current vice president insisted that he committed suicide.
President Alberto Fernández Tried to Defend Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner During interview
Those controversial comments were said during a television interview, with President Alberto Fernández staunchly defending the vice president. The interview came as Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner faces corruption charges in relation to public work contracts awarded to friends and allies during her term as president of Argentina.
President Fernández's comments were referring to prosecutor Diego Luciani, who called for a 12-year prison sentence, as well as a lifetime ban from ever running for any position in Argentina, against the former president.
According to the president, the reason the Supreme Court ordered increased security for judges and prosecutors was because of what happened to Nisman. He said it was ridiculous, as it promotes the idea that what happened to Nisman could happen to the current prosecutor going after the former president. He then insisted that Nisman committed suicide because nothing else has been proven until now. He then went on to infamously say "I hope prosecutor Luciani doesn't do something like that."
According to TeleSur, the president assured the public that his vice president did not commit any crime during her tenure as president. President Alberto Fernández, a lawyer himself, also called the charges against her "legal nonsense."
Opposition Party Wants President Alberto Fernández Impeached
Opposition coalition Juntos por el Cambio revealed that they want to impeach President Alberto Fernández. According to coalition member and former Minister of Agriculture Congressman Ricardo Buryaile, the president's statements are a "serious violation of the division of powers and the Constitution." He added that this constitutes to a systemic attack on the judiciary.
According to Merco Press, the congressman backed the initiative to impeach, which was promoted by lawmakers from the Radical Civic Union (UCR), one of the parties involved with Juntos por el Cambio.
Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is currently being investigated for the alleged irregularities in the awarding and overpricing of tenders for public works projects. Many of the contracts given by the government by firms connected with a businessman allied with her family. That businessman, Lazaro Baez, allegedly colluded with the former president for those contracts.
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Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: Argentina corruption trial: Prosecutors seek 12 years for Cristina Kirchner • FRANCE 24 English