By Leila Miller and Lucila Sigal
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina’s Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a guilty verdict that sentenced powerful two-term former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to six years in prison for defrauding the state and banned her from public office.
Kirchner, 72, a polarizing figure and leftist who served as president from 2007 to 2015, was convicted by a trial court in 2022 for a fraud scheme that steered public road work projects in the Patagonia to a close ally while she was president.
Kirchner, Argentina’s most starry politician in recent decades who has rockstar status among her supporters, has denied wrongdoing and claims she is a victim of political persecution.
The Supreme Court’s three judges left in effect an appellate court decision that had previously upheld the guilty verdict. A lower court will decide whether to grant Kirchner house arrest due to her age.
The verdict is a blow for Kirchner, the Peronist’s political grandee, though could galvanize the fragmented opposition movement ahead of midterm elections later this year where it will look to challenge libertarian President Javier Milei.
Kirchner had announced this month plans to run in legislative elections scheduled for September.
(Reporting by Lucila Sigal and Leila Miller)
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