STORY: An Argentine judge on Tuesday (June 17) put former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner under house arrest to serve out a six-year sentence for corruption in a case that has effectively brought down the country's most prominent politician in recent decades.

Kirchner, 72, a polarizing leftist two-term president from 2007 to 2015, as well as a former first lady, VP and Senator, was convicted by a court in 2022 over a fraud scheme involving public projects in Patagonia that allegedly benefited an ally.

Argentina's Supreme Court last week upheld the conviction and sentence following an appeal. That also includes a lifetime ban from holding public political office. Kirchner has denied wrongdoing, claiming political persecution.

The judge on Tuesday ruled that Kirchner should serve the sentence, effective immediately, at her Buenos Aires residence due to her age, adding she would wear an electronic ankle tag. Kirchner had sought house arrest to avoid going to jail.

She must remain at home except for court-approved or justified exceptions and, within 48 working hours, provide a list of authorized individuals, including household members and medical staff. Other visitors will require court approval.

Kirchner is one of Argentina's most divisive political figures. Her influence still looms large over the left-leaning Peronist movement, even after its defeat in 2023 to libertarian President Javier Milei.

On Tuesday, a few thousand supporters rallied in Buenos Aires, banging drums, blocking roads and waving banners.

"We're going to keep fighting for her release," said Manuel Ortiz, a Kirchner supporter, outside her Buenos Aires apartment. "We're going to fight with everything and give our lives for her, because we are Peronists."

Kirchner's popularity and the broader Peronist movement have taken a hit in recent years, especially during her 2019–2023 vice presidency under Alberto Fernandez. His administration struggled with runaway inflation and a deepening economic crisis driven in part by excessive money printing.

Despite her legal setbacks, Kirchner retains a fiercely loyal support base, particularly among working-class voters who benefited from subsidies during her presidency and that of her late husband Nestor Kirchner.

She is not the first Argentine leader to face criminal conviction. Former President Carlos Menem was sentenced to over four years in prison for embezzlement in the 1990s, though his role as senator shielded him from serving time behind bars.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: SUPPORTERS OF FORMER PRESIDENT CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER WAITING OUTSIDE HER HOME / SOUNDBITES FROM SUPPORTERS / DOCUMENT FROM TRIBUNAL

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE STORY

SHOWS: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (JUNE 17, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. POSTERS AND PLACARDS TAPED OUTSIDE THE HOME OF FORMER ARGENTINE PRESIDENT, CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER

2. FERNANDEZ’S SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE HER HOME

3. WHITE BANNER READING (Spanish): ‘CORRUPT COURT, DON’T MESS WITH CRISTINA’

4. VARIOUS OF FERNANDEZ’S SON, MAXIMO KIRCHNER, ARRIVING TO HIS MOTHER’S HOME

5. SAN JOSE STREET SIGN

INTERNET (JUNE 17, 2025) (ARGENTINE JUDICIAL BRANCH HANDOUT – Access all) (MUTE)

6. JUSTICE COURT DOCUMENT NOTIFYING OF FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER’S SERVE HOUSE ARREST

7. DOCUMENT READING (Spanish): “I. ORDER the DETENTION of Cristina Elisabet Fernandez de Kirchner, starting today and under the modality of house arrest, for the purpose of serving the sentence imposed in this case. II. ESTABLISH that the house arrest be served at the residence located at San Jose Street 1111, second floor, apartment “d” of this city.”

8. DOCUMENT WITH THE RULES OF CONDUCT READING (Spanish):

“a) She must remain at the fixed address. She must not fail with this obligation unless under exceptional situation that should be justified. Outside of these events, she must request and obtain the previous authorization from the tribunal without any exceptions.

b) She must abstain from adopting conducts that could disturb the calm of the neighborhood or alter the peaceful coexistence of its residents.

c) Within 48 business hours, you must present a list of the people who make up your family group, police custody, medical professionals who treat her regularly, and lawyers who represent her, who may access the residence where she will serve the prison sentence without the need for judicial authorization. The eventual access of any person not included in this list must be requested and justified."

9. DOCUMENT READING (Spanish): “V. ORDER the Directorate of Assistance to Persons Under Electronic Surveillance, dependent on the Undersecretariat of Penitentiary Affairs of the Ministry of National Security, to place an electronic surveillance device on Cristina Elisabet Fernandez de Kirchner at the address indicated in point I, under the terms established in the last paragraph of consideration IV.”

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (JUNE 17, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all)

10. SUPPORTERS OF FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER OUTSIDE HER HOME

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SUPPORTER OF CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER, ESTELA MARIS ALONSO, SAYING:

“If justice decides this, that’s it. She is a former president, she cannot be in a regular prison, not even if they create a special prison for her. She needs to be at her home, here (in Buenos Aires) or in southern Argentina, wherever. I think that she doesn’t need to wear an ankle tag.”

12. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CARRYING OUT PERFORMANCE PIECE DRESSED OUT AS JUDGES AND UNCLE SAM

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SUPPORTER OF CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER, MANUEL ORTIZ, SAYING:

“We're going to keep fighting for her release from house arrest. So she can leave. We're going to fight with everything and give our lives for her, because we are Peronists (political movement to which Fernandez de Kirchner belongs).”

14. VARIOUS OF PERFORMANCE

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SUPPORTER OF CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER, ROMELIA SOTELLO, SAYING:

“The issue isn’t the ankle tag or the house arrest, the issue is that it is an injustice. The same judges who are judging our representative (Fernandez de Kirchner) are the ones who were accused of being corrupt for having met in the south and who themselves voted not to be judged. Therefore, from that fact, which is corrupt in terms of justice and corrupt in terms of the animosity that the tribunal and the prosecutors have, it is unjust."

16. (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF FEDERAL COURT IN COMODORO PY

17. VARIOUS OF DOORS OUTSIDE COURTS ON 6TH FLOOR

18. VARIOUS OF BALCONIES OUTSIDE FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER’S HOME

19. POSTER WITH FERNANDEZ’S FACE, BROWN PLACARD READING (Spanish): ‘WE ARE MORE PEOPLE"