Court warns former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner over supporters' rallies outside home

Argentina's courts on Wednesday formally warned former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007-2015), one year into her six-year house arrest sentence for corruption, over demonstrations of support taking place outside her home.

The court reminded her that house arrest privilege could be revoked if she breaches the conditions imposed by "disturbing the peace of the neighbourhood" after hundreds of people gathered outside her residence last Sunday under the slogan "Cristina libre" or "Free Cristina."

The scene has become a regular occurrence since she was convicted in a ruling that the former president describes as "political persecution.":

A new march in support of Fernández de Kirchner has been called for Saturday. She remains the leading opposition figure to the government of President Javier Milei.

"Cristina Kirchner is hereby ordered, going forward, to refrain from engaging in conduct or behaviour that could imply non-compliance with the guidelines and conditions under which the house arrest regime for serving the prison sentence imposed upon her was granted and is being carried out," read a ruling by Judge Rodrigo Giménez Uriburu on Tuesday.

The court reprimanded her for her alleged involvement in the display of a huge banner stretching from the balcony of her second-floor apartment on Calle San José in Buenos Aires to a neighbouring building, bearing the slogan "From San José to the Casa Rosada" – a reference to Argentina's presidential palace.

According to details from the ruling cited by the local press, she is alleged to have helped secure the banner to the balcony from which she frequently greets supporters.

Fernández de Kirchner, 73, was sentenced on June 17, 2025, to six years in prison and a lifetime ban from holding public office after being convicted in the so-called 'Vialidad' case probing fraud in the awarding of public works contracts during her Presidency.

Her disqualification from public office has sparked debate within the Peronist movement, which has struggled to find a leader who can take on Milei at the ballot-box.

Fernández de Kircnner's leadership "had already been challenged by several governors" before her conviction, political analyst Andrés Malamud told AFP. "Her imprisonment accelerated not succession, but the fragmentation of Peronism," he added.

Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof has emerged as a possible new leader of a broad Peronist coalition.

Recently, an appeals court rejected a request by the former president's defence team seeking to prevent the seizure of assets worth millions.
 

– TIMES/AFP