La Derecha Diario The prosecutor requested that Alberto Fernández stand trial for gender-based violence.
The court order against the former president includes accusations of bodily harm, threats, and coercion
Federal prosecutor Ramiro Gonzálezrequestedthat former president Alberto Fernández be subjected to an oral trial in the gender-based violence case initiated by his former partner, former first lady Fabiola Yáñez.
The submission was sent to federal judge Julián Ercolini and states that the investigation is closed, with the date for the oral hearing still pending.If it moves forward, Fernández will become the first former Argentine head of state to face a process of this kind.
The 180-page prosecutorial request accuses Fernández of two counts of minor injuries and one count of serious injury, all aggravated by the relationship and the context of gender-based violence, abuse of power, and coercive threats.
He is also charged with the crime of coercion to prevent Yáñez from filing a complaint. The penalties for these charges, in concurrence, could range from 3 to 18 years in prison.According to the prosecution, the events allegedly occurred continuously since at least 2016 and continued beyond his departure from the Casa Rosada.
The accusation, confirmed in April by the Federal Chamber of Buenos Aires, states that the former president exercised "systematic" psychological violence against Yáñez, with "harassment, bullying, control, insults, belittlement, and hostility". The prosecutor emphasized that Fernández "allegedly took advantage of a preexisting situation of vulnerability" and that the assaults took place both in the private sphere and at the presidential residence in Olivos.
The case file includes images released publicly in 2023 that show injuries on the armand right eye ofYáñez, sent by the former first lady herself to presidential secretary María Canterovia WhatsApp. These pieces of evidence gave rise to the investigation. González stated: "There is no doubt about the blows received".
Among the evidence included are messages forensically extracted from Yáñez's phone and from devices linked to Fernández. The conversations were classified as "psychological terrorism" or "acknowledgment of violence", showing for the prosecution a pattern of abuse. The most relevant chats include:
10/10/2017 – "Psychological terrorism": "Don't provoke me anymore. You already know how this ends," Fernández wrote, according to the transcript included in the case file.
12/06/2018 – "Acknowledgment of violence": "Yes, I treated you badly, but you drove me to it," the former president said during an argument.
01/21/2018 – "Psychological terrorism": "Without me, you are nothing. Remember that," a message the prosecution considered intimidating and part of a pattern of control.
04/25/2018 – "Psychological terrorism": "You do everything to make me angry and then you play the victim," Fernández wrote.
06/26/2018 – "Infidelity": "You cheated on me and you still have the nerve to ask me for things," he reproached her.
07/09/2018 – "Argument": "I have nothing else to say to you," he abruptly ended an exchange, which according to the prosecution exemplifies "withdrawing communication" as a form of psychological violence.
02/02/2019 – "Psychological terrorism": "If you talk, forget about me continuing to help you," a message the investigation frames as a threat related to support payments.
The plaintiff representing Yáñez stated that she will not accept a suspended trial or a financial settlement, demanding an oral and public hearing. The former first lady requested a 12-year prison sentence.
Prosecutor González recalled that the coercion included threats regarding child support and custody of their child, which allegedly delayed the complaint. During the investigation, presidential doctors, staff from the Quinta de Olivos, Yáñez's relatives and close associates, as well as her beautician, testified. Medical records, entry and exit logs from Olivos, videos, and phone communications were also analyzed.
For the prosecution, the case should be considered a women's human rights issue, calling for an analysis "free of stereotypes" that doesn't divert attention from "the perpetrator's responsibilities". With the investigation closed, the case file is now awaiting an oral court to set the start of the trial.
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