Former President of Argentina Cristina Kirchner (2007-2015) attacked figures in the Judiciary this Tuesday (17) during testimony before a court responsible for the well-known “Cadernos Case”, a trial she faces for allegedly leading an illicit association that collected bribes from businessmen.
“In the Cadernos Case, there are mafia practices on the part of judges and prosecutors,” she argued before the Argentine court, before adding: “There was a wave of arrests to pressure businessmen to testify against me. Mafia practices.”
Kirchner refused to answer questions about the charges she faces in court, crimes she denies having committed. She claimed that evidence was fabricated to incriminate her, citing as an example the “strategic” choice of forum (selection of the most favorable court to file the action).
Right at the beginning of the hearing, she was irritated by formal questions from the president of Federal Oral Court No. 7. The former president was asked about her name, age, marital status and address, whether she had a “nickname” and a criminal record.
Kirchner took the opportunity to claim that he is suffering legal persecution. “If someone asked me what the most emblematic case of judicial persecution is, I would say the Vialidad case, in which I was unjustly imprisoned.”
She also criticized the use of the figure of the “cooperative defendant” — a legal mechanism that several of the businessmen involved in the case used to reduce their sentences — and denounced the “criminal and illegal” application of the plea bargain law by the then judge in the case, Claudio Bonadio (deceased), and by the prosecutor who led the investigation, Carlos Stornelli.
In subsequent moments, the former president launched strong criticisms of the now deceased judge Claudio Bonadió and prosecutor Carlos Stornelli, whom she accused of “mafia-like conduct”.
“We are facing a case in which the judge and the prosecutor are mafiosos, it is not about political persecution: these are mafia practices”, he said from the dock. She also accused other magistrates of impartiality in the case.
About the Notebooks Case
Cristina Kirchner, who has been under house arrest since June 17, 2025 for a conviction related to another corruption case, is accused of leading an illicit association and receiving millions of dollars in more than 200 bribes from businessmen. In addition to her, 19 other former government officials and 65 businesspeople face trial.
According to details of the action, the former president and her husband, the late Néstor Kirchner, organized an illegal fundraising network between 2003 and 2015, whose objective was to raise illicit money. To this end, they made agreements with large businesspeople related to public works and services projects. If convicted in the new case, she could face sentences of five to 10 years.
