The assailant Alberto Fernández could face 12 years in prison for violence.

The shadow of the oral trial is already looming over the violent former president Alberto Fernández, after the defense of Fabiola Yañez –his former partner and former first lady– formally requested that he be placed in the dock of the accused. The accusation is forceful: gender-based violence with the expectation of a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.

Attorneys Mauricio D’Alessandro and Gastón Marano, representatives of Yañez, replied to federal prosecutor Ramiro González –who declared the investigation phase closed– with a written statement asserting that "the corroborated offenses are more than three", contrary to what is stated in the prosecutor's submission. According to D’Alessandro, the sentence corresponding to the former president's conduct ranges from a minimum of 4 to 6 years, up to a maximum sentence of 12 years of actual imprisonment, according to the Penal Code.

The judicial process formally began in August 2023, driven by the Public Prosecutor's Office, which initiated the investigation into nine reported incidents. However, after a year of investigation, the commission of three punishable acts is considered proven, although the plaintiff insists that the number is higher. The former president is being prosecuted for two counts of minor injuries and one count of serious injury, all doubly aggravated by the relationship with the victim, abuse of power, and coercive threats.

According to the case file, between 2016 and August 6, 2024, Fernández allegedly exercised systematic psychological violence against Yañez, "in a context of gender-based violence marked by the particularly asymmetric power relationship" that existed between them. Among the behaviors attributed to him are:

Harassment, intimidation, and control

Indifference, insults, blaming

Mistreatment, belittling, and persistent hostility

In his opinion, prosecutor González indicated that "the relevant evidentiary measures were carried out" and that both the plaintiff and the defense had provided sufficient elements to corroborate or dismiss the criminal hypotheses. In this regard, the Prosecutor's Office considered "all relevant proceedings completed", so the investigation was declared concluded, and the oral trial phase begins.

Nevertheless, the Public Prosecutor's Office clarified that new evidence could be admitted "in the subsequent stage of the process", as part of the parties' arguments. It will be there where Yañez's defense will reiterate its request for a sentence, and where the prosecution may adjust its request based on the formal accusation.

The former head of state, whose presidency was marked by economic mismanagement, authoritarian lockdown during the pandemic, and corruption scandals, now faces a new chapter in his decline: answering to the courts for his personal and private conduct, which reflects the same pattern of abuse of power and impunity that characterized his administration.