Argentina’s Supreme Court of Justice ordered the arrest of former Federal Planning Minister Julio De Vido, a historic ally of former presidents Néstor and Cristina Kirchner, for fraudulent administration in a case related to a railway accident that killed 51 people in 2012.
De Vido, 75 years old, voluntarily presented himself this Thursday morning (13) at Federal Oral Court No. 4, in Buenos Aires, accompanied by his son and lawyers. After being notified of the decision, he was arrested and taken into custody to the federal prison in the city of Ezeiza, where he will serve a four-year prison sentence, as reported by the newspaper The Nation.
De Vido’s conviction, confirmed earlier this week, had been imposed in 2018 by the same court, which considered him a “necessary participant in the crime of fraudulent administration to the detriment of public administration”, for failing to monitor the use of resources allocated to the company Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA), concessionaire of the railway service involved in the accident that became known as the “Once Tragedy”.
The accident occurred on February 22, 2012, when a train on the Sarmiento line collided with the final platform of Once station in Buenos Aires, leaving 51 dead and more than 700 injured. According to the The Nationthe court concluded that mismanagement and lack of control over public subsidies granted to the concessionaire directly contributed to the disaster.
According to the agency EFEthe former minister’s defense had requested house arrest, citing advanced age and health problems, but the request was denied. The court also rejected a statute of limitations appeal filed by De Vido’s legal team, which accused the Supreme Court of acting with “suspicious speed and obvious opportunism” in upholding the sentence.
Julio De Vido was one of the most influential ministers of Kirchnerism, holding the position of Minister of Federal Planning between 2003 and 2015, during the governments of Néstor and Cristina Kirchner. He had already been arrested between 2017 and 2019 for another corruption case and faces several legal proceedings, including the “Corruption Notebooks” scandal, in which Cristina Kirchner also appears as the main accused.
