Prosecutor Casal requested that the Court extend CFK's sentence to 12 years in prison.

The Attorney General of the Nation, Eduardo Casal, requested this Thursday that the Supreme Court of Justice sentence former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to 12 years in prison for the crime of illicit association in the case known as "Vialidad," linked to public works awarded in the province of Santa Cruz.

Casal presented a 13-page opinion in which he upheld the original position of the Prosecutor's Office, which had requested a more severe sentence than the current one. In that sense, he also requested that the amount of the seizure against the convicted be raised to 5,321,049,272.42 pesos.

With this opinion, the Supreme Court, composed of Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz, and Ricardo Lorenzetti, is now in a position to rule on the case. The ruling generates strong expectations, as in addition to the sentence it includes a perpetual disqualification from holding public office, which is especially relevant in an election year, given the possibility that the corrupt former president might run in the province of Buenos Aires or nationally.

The highest court must now solve both Casal's request and the defense appeal of Cristina Kirchner, who insists on her acquittal, as do the lawyers of the other convicted: businessman Lázaro Báez, former Secretary of Public Works José López, former head of National Highway José Periotti, and five former officials of Santa Cruz Highway.

It should be remembered that in December 2022, Federal Oral Court No. 2 sentenced the former president to six years in prison and perpetual disqualification for fraudulent administration, and acquitted her of the charge of illicit association. The Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation upheld that decision in November 2023. In both rulings, there was a 2 to 1 majority, with dissenting votes that considered Cristina Kirchner should also be convicted for illicit association.

That had been the request of the oral trial prosecutors, Diego Luciani and Sergio Mola, along with the Cassation prosecutor, Mario Villar, who demanded a sentence of 12 years. Both the oral court and the Cassation Chamber dismissed the existence of an illicit association, considering the irregularities detected in the 51 public works awarded between 2003 and 2015 —during the terms of Néstor and Cristina Kirchner— to companies linked to Lázaro Báez as a single act. According to the judges, there was no evidence of a multiplicity of crimes that would allow for the configuration of an illicit association.

In his opinion today, Attorney General Eduardo Casal supported the appeal filed by prosecutor Villar. "The Attorney General explained, quite rightly, that there is, however, no justification for resorting to that artifice when what is at stake here is the fraudulent awarding of fifty-one public works contracts within a proven scheme of corruption," Casal stated.

He also added that "the fact that the organization carried out only one plan is not incompatible with the figure of illicit association, whose configuration doesn't depend on any execution."

Furthermore, Casal emphasized that the Cassation Chamber did not respond to the Public Prosecutor's Office's argument that the events occurred over three governments, in a span of 12 years.

The Attorney General also endorsed the request to annul the acquittals of former Federal Planning Minister Julio De Vido, former Undersecretary of Public Works Abel Fatala, and former head of Provincial Highway of Santa Cruz, Héctor Garro.

Finally, Attorney General Casal supported prosecutor Villar's request for the seizure of $5,321,049,272.42 from the convicted. This amount corresponds to the updated value of the economic damage at the time the sentence becomes effective.

This amount had been reduced by the Cassation Chamber. "The Public Prosecutor's Office presented a detailed and meticulous calculation that received no treatment from the chamber, as it was only dismissed through an abstract formula," Casal criticized in reference to the court's decision.

Thus, with his opinion, Casal requested that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, José López, Nelson Periotti, and Lázaro Báez be convicted for the crime of illicit association. He also requested the same for Julio De Vido.