The government's coalition in the Senate will once again move to strip former president-cum-Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of her parliamentary immunity on Tuesday, over allegations she partook in a cover-up of the 1994 AMIA Jewish community centre bombing.
Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio has requested that the Senate strip Fernández de Kirchner of her congressional privileges If successful, it would put into effect his arrest warrant against her.
The government's Cambiemos coalition has 25 senators of a total 37 needed to act against Fernández de Kirchner.
A vote to obtain quorum and initiate a debate inside the chamber will take place today (Tuesday) at 4pm.
In a procedural sense, the Senate must vote on the measure today before it expires.
Peronist leader in the Senate, Miguel Ángel Pichetto, has rejected the move and refused to collaborate with the government's coalition on the grounds Fernández de Kirchner has not yet been charged for any crime.
"It's another stupidity" of the government's, Pichetto said.
"I don't believe this session is viable. We have asked the court [trying Fernández de Kirchner over alleged cover-up] for a report. We hope it makes a decision before Tuesday," he said.
Fernández de Kirchner is facing a number of legal battles.
The most recent of which – the so-called "notebooks scandal" — involves allegations she and her late husband, Néstor Kirchner, led a criminal organisation that funnelled money from public works into the pockets of government officials.
She has denied involvement in any AMIA bombing cover-up, saying instead her government’s decision to seek a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran was aimed at putting an end to the legal stalemate surrounding the AMIA investigation.
Prosecutors, however, allege the Kirchner governments were offering immunity to accused high-ranking Iranian government officials in exchange for trade deals.
-TIMES
Comments