Buenos Aires, (EFE).- An Argentine appeals court confirmed the indictment of former President Alberto Fern\u00e1ndez (2019-2023) in a gender-based violence case filed by his former partner, Fabiola Y\u00e1\u00f1ez, moving the former head of state closer to a criminal trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ruling, issued Tuesday by the National Criminal and Correction Appeals Court, accuses Fern\u00e1ndez of physically and psychologically abusing Y\u00e1\u00f1ez from 2016 to August 2024 in a relationship marked by a \u201cnotorious power imbalance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judges confirm abuse took place in context of power asymmetry <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judges Mart\u00edn Irurzun and Eduardo Farah voted to uphold the original indictment from Feb. 17 by federal judge Juli\u00e1n Ercolini, while Judge Roberto Boico dissented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the ruling, \u201cin a context of gender-based violence (…) the accused would have taken advantage of the particular vulnerability that the complainant was immersed in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court described Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s conduct as including a \u201cmarked power imbalance, isolation, psychological abuse, and repeated physical aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judge Irurzun emphasized that the incidents occurred in the context of \u201cforced isolation\u201d at the presidential residence, and Farah rejected the defense\u2019s argument that the charges were vague, stating that the case had been \u201cmeticulously described\u201d from the beginning of the relationship through to the formal complaint in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legal team denies abuse, claims former president was victim <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fern\u00e1ndez’s lawyer, Silvina Carreira, appealed the indictment arguing that the former president never exerted control over Y\u00e1\u00f1ez and instead suffered mistreatment himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the court upheld the indictment on charges including minor and serious injuries, aggravated by the intimate relationship, abuse of power, and coercive threats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ruling also cited the symbolic authority Fern\u00e1ndez held as a former president, stating that he was \u201cnot only the President of the Nation, but also a public actor with symbolic power,\u201d which allegedly reinforced the asymmetry in the relationship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former president is now just one step away from facing an oral criminal trial. If found guilty, he could face between 3 and 18 years in prison. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This case marks the first time an Argentine head of state has been criminally indicted for gender-based violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The indictment outlines a pattern of verbal abuse, guilt-tripping, humiliation, threats, and physical assaults, which allegedly took place over several years. EFE <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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