Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, former president of Argentina, requests to serve her sentence under house arrest following the ratification of her conviction. Her defense cites humanitarian reasons and denounces a judicial advance aimed at excluding her from political life, as popular mobilization in support of her cause grows.

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A Justified Request: Rights and Security at the Heart of the Debate

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, former president of Argentina and a central figure of the national and popular movement, formally requested to serve the sentence imposed in the “Vialidad” case under house arrest.

Fernández de Kirchner’s defense argues that, due to her age (72 years), her status as a former head of state, and the risks to her physical integrity following the assassination attempt in 2022, only house arrest guarantees her fundamental rights and personal security.

Context of Judicial Persecution: An Attack on Democracy

The request for house arrest comes amid strong popular mobilization and denunciations of political persecution. Fernández de Kirchner, banned for life from holding public office after the recent confirmation of her conviction by the Supreme Court, has repeatedly stated that she is the target of a “proscription campaign” orchestrated by sectors of economic and judicial power, aimed at excluding her from political life and weakening the Argentine popular movement.

“Being imprisoned is almost a certificate of political and historical personal dignity,” declared the former president before a crowd of militants who accompanied her at the headquarters of the Justicialist Party and later at her home, the epicenter of popular resistance.

Humanitarian and Legal Reasons: The Right to House Arrest

The legal defense of Fernández de Kirchner, led by lawyer Alberto Beraldi, based the request on three main reasons:

-Age: Argentine law presumes greater vulnerability from age 70 and allows house arrest for people in this age group.

-Status as former president: Fernández de Kirchner has permanent custody by the Federal Police, ensuring no flight risk and that her security cannot be guaranteed in a regular prison.

-Assassination attempt: The attack suffered in September 2022 reinforces the need for special protective conditions, impossible to guarantee in a penitentiary institution.

The defense also invoked the Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons and international human rights standards, which prohibit cruel or inhuman treatment and require differentiated measures for elderly people and former heads of state.

La defensa de la exmandataria Cristina Fernández de Kirchner presentó un pedido ante la justicia argentina🇦🇷, tras fallo juridicial de la Corte Suprema contra la líder peronista.https://t.co/AxcT5kNU7x

— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) June 11, 2025

The text reads: The defense of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner filed a request before the Argentine justice system🇦🇷 following a Supreme Court ruling against the Peronist leader.

Popular Reaction: Mobilization and Solidarity

The popular response was immediate. Hundreds of militants and leaders from the national and popular camp gathered in support of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, denouncing judicial persecution and demanding respect for the popular will.

The former president called on her followers to organize, emphasizing that unity is the only guarantee of victory against attempts at proscription and social disciplining.

“What they seek is to dismantle popular organization, but history shows that the people always come back,” warned Fernández de Kirchner, evoking the historical resistance of Peronism and the struggle of Latin American peoples against vested powers.

The request for house arrest by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is not a privilege but a right protected by law and international treaties. Her case exposes the use of the judicial apparatus as a tool of political persecution, in line with lawfare strategies applied in Latin America against popular leaders. Social mobilization and international solidarity will be key to defending democracy, human rights, and popular sovereignty in Argentina and the regio

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