After his tour of Russia and China, President Alberto Fernández must testify on February 21 before the Federal Oral Court 2 (TOF 2) responsible for judging Cristina Kirchner for alleged corruption in public works. The new date was set by the TOF, which this week began taking testimonial statements from the former chiefs of staff of the Kirchner governments, at the request of the vice president. The new calendar includes Sergio Massa, who must declare on the 21st.
Before TOF 2, chaired by Judge Rodrigo Gimenez Uriburu and also composed of Jorge Gorini and Andres BassoThose who were in charge of the cabinet of ministers during the twelve years of the Kirchner government will begin to testify. The suggestion was made by the vice president, as part of her defense strategy in the case where she was prosecuted for allegedly directing public road works in favor of Lazarus Baez. He also requested that his Legal and Technical Secretary be summoned, Carlos Zanini,
The vice maintains that the budgets allocated to public works were “administrative acts”, that as such “were lawful” and that she did not sign the modifications of the funds allocated to the item under investigation. Her proposal seeks to discard what was indicated during the investigation, when the prosecution, through an audit, maintained that the Austral Group received 11% of the National Roads budget at a general level and 86% of the works dedicated to Santa Cruzwith “surcharges of 65% and half of the works were not finished”.
Faced with this accusation, the main defense of the vice indicates that the budget items destined for public works were made with a law approved by Congress and that the expansion of funds passed through the chief of staff.
That’s why you asked -when the Front of All had not yet been constituted and had a public confrontation with Massa and Alberto Fernández-, declared by the former chiefs of Cabinet as responsible for signing the budget items from 2004 to 2015, dedicated to public works.
As a result of the tour that the president leads through Russia and China, and through a brief letter, Alberto Fernández requested a new date to testify. For this reason, TOF 2 notified that February 15 is the new assigned date. Likewise, it was determined that on the 21st it will be the turn of Sergio Massa, current president of the Chamber of Deputies.
The President of the Nation, as well as the Minister of Security -Hannibal Fernandezquoted for Tuesday 8- You can make your statement in writing. as contemplated by the Criminal Procedure Code.
With this round of witnesses, the instance of statements in the trial that began in May 2019 will be concluded. Ahead there will be extensions of inquiries, allegations, replies and final words until the verdict of TOF 2 is known.
This week declared the current Treasury Attorney, Carlos Zannini, who maintained that the Court sought to “use the hearings for electoral purposes”, He considered that the trial “only seeks to criminalize politics and public works” and, supporting the vice president’s theory, said that the investigation “is seeking to discredit Cristina Kirchner.”
imputation
The vice president was sent to trial by the judge Julian Ercolini along with twelve other defendants, under the premise that a “corruption maneuver” was established by the Government and state agencies linked to public works, with whom “a criminal organization was set up” for the “subtraction of public funds through the discretionary allocation of practically 80% of the road works in favor of Lázaro Báez”: there were 51 contracts for more than 46 billion pesos.
When evaluating the responsibilities in this alleged criminal structure, it was argued thate Cristina Kirchner was the head of the illicit association that defrauded the State by directing the public road works in favor of Lázaro Báez, supports the tax requirement after analyzing all the tenders awarded to the Austral Group.
When she was questioned at the trial, days before taking office as vice president, in her explosive statement she addressed TOF 2 and said: “They are going to have a problem if they call the former chiefs of staff, because they will have to call the President of the Republic. But it will be interesting to hear.”
Endorsing the theory of his running mate, who maintained in this trial that he was the victim of political persecution, President Alberto Fernández had criticized the trial, which he described as a legal mess. In addition, he questioned the judges who investigated the former president -including Ercolini who carried out the case- and said that they were going to “have to give explanations”for the resolutions that led Cristina Kirchner to her first trial for alleged corruption.
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