Face with a mass request from Unión por la Patria deputies and senators to visit former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner “without restrictions” while she serves house arrest for a six-year prison sentence, the courts have said visitors must seek permission to enter her residence.
Oral Federal Court No. 2 resolved to entrust authorisation to her defence lawyers, Carlos Beraldi and Ary Llernovoy.
Judges Andrés Basso, Rodrigo Giménez Uriburu and Jorge Gorini were this week consulted by deputies and senators defending their right to visit the ex-president without need for prior notice or judicial authorisation.
They explained that as elected representatives, they had an “institutional and political mandate to participate in matters of public relevance” and thus “did not need any authorisation from the court to have personal contact with her.”
They further argued that “their parliamentary immunities are the institutional guarantees of Congress to ensure freedom of action and expression in discharging their functions” while warning that to deny these visits would be an “invasion of the prerogatives of the Legislative Branch.”
The lawmakers explained that the ex-president’s situation has an “institutional, political and democratic importance” and that limiting contact “would not only affect our parliamentary work but would also imply undermining our popular mandate.”
At the same time they reminded the judges that, in normal conditions, any deputy or senator may visit a person under house arrest without prior authorisation.
Finally, they insisted on the importance of respecting the separation of powers: “The judges should not interfere in the prerogatives of other branches.”
Rejection
Faced with this scenario, the judges rejected the request, considering it extemporaneous. They explained that the access procedure is similar to that applied to thousands of email requests channelled by the defence lawyers should the ex-president decide to receive those persons.
The decision regarding parliamentary visits under house arrest lies with the Federal Cassation Court, which will resolve the issue on July 7 when the judges Mariano Borinsky, Gustavo Hornos and Diego Barretoaveña will receive the parties in a hearing to confirm or modify the TOF2 resolution.
Over 700 people have made email requests to visit Fernández de Kirchner received by the Court. The judges have explained that authorisation does not correspond to the court but must be requested by the ex-president herself, placing the messages received at the disposal of her defence lawyers.
TOF2 rejected a request from Fernández de Kirchner’s defence lawyers to permit unrestricted visits while under house arrest. Faced with this denial, her lawyer Gregorio Dalbón has invited “all people who are not family and wish to visit her” to send a formal request to the court.
Dalbón commented harshly: “TOF 2, instead of responding with humanity, responded with bureaucracy: ‘She must ask for the visits.’ Ridículous. Do they also want her to ask for permission to wave out of the window? Or send a certified letter if she wants to receive Lula? That’s not justice, it’s vengeance with a judicial letterhead,” criticised the lawyer.
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