BUENOS AIRES: Argentine ex-president Cristina Kirchner, who is serving a six-year fraud sentence under house arrest, goes on trial Thursday in a separate case for allegedly taking millions of dollars in bribes.
The center-left Kirchner, a dominant and polarizing figure in Argentine politics for over two decades, served two terms from 2007-2015.
Her latest trial comes as her ailing Peronist movement — named after iconic post-war leader Juan Peron — reels from its stinging defeat at the hands of right-wing President Javier Milei’s party in last month’s midterm elections.
Milei has hailed the result as a vindication of his radical free-market agenda, which the Peronists, champions of state intervention in the economy, vehemently oppose.
The so-called “notebooks” scandal revolves around records kept by a government chauffeur of cash bribes he claims to have delivered from businessmen to government officials between 2003-2015.
Kirchner, 72, was first lady from 2003-2007, when her late husband Nestor Kirchner was president.
She succeeded him after his term ended and then later served as vice president to Alberto Fernandez from 2019 until 2023, when Milei took office.
Kirchner is accused of leading a criminal enterprise that took bribes from businesspeople in return for the awarding of state contracts.
Eighty-seven people are accused in the case, including a former minister and several junior ministers.
Kirchner, who was placed under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor in June after being convicted of “fraudulent administration” as president, maintains she is the victim of a politically-inspired judicial hounding.
It was not clear whether she will appear at the trial by video-conference from her home in Buenos Aires.
She faces between six and 10 years in prison if convicted at the end of what is expected to be a lengthy trial.
Her lawyers have cast doubt on the credibility of the entries in the chauffeur’s notebooks, saying they were changed over 1,500 times.
Argentine ex-president Kirchner goes on trial in new corruption case
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Argentine ex-president Kirchner goes on trial in new corruption case
- Kirchner is accused of leading a criminal enterprise that took bribes from businesspeople in return for the awarding of state contracts
Greek police detain 313 in raid at university after mob attacked police
- Such attacks against riot police near the university campus are not uncommon
- Riot police used tear gas and stun grenades to beat back the attackers
THESSALONIKI, Greece: Authorities in Greece on Saturday detained 313 people in a raid on the university campus of the country’s second-largest city, Thessaloniki, after riot police were attacked by mobs of people hurling more than 100 Molotov cocktails.
Greek police said roving groups of people wearing hoods emerged from the campus of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in the predawn hours Saturday to attack a squad of riot police. The unit is usually deployed some distance from the campus to quell any disturbances after all-night parties that take place on university grounds.
Police said all 313 people were released without being charged.
Such attacks against riot police near the university campus are not uncommon but it’s the first time that so many people were detained after such a clash during which an unusually high number of firebombs was used.
Riot police used tear gas and stun grenades to beat back the attackers. One officer was taken to a military hospital for burns to his face and leg while a 21-year-old civilian was treated for respiratory problems, police said.
The university said in a statement that off-campus “extremists” in conjunction with some individuals from within university grounds had committed the attacks. They said an investigation is underway to determine if any students had taken part. They added that no permission had been granted for any party to take place on university grounds.
