After being convicted of "administrative fraud", an Argentine court sentenced the country's former president and current vice president Cristina Kirchner(69)to six years in prison

After the verdict, Kirchner announced her renunciation of running for any position that would grant her immunity, and condemned what she considered a "judicial mafia" in this trial related to the granting of public grants in her political stronghold of Santa Cruz during her two presidential terms (2007-2015), which led to her being banned from holding official positions for life as well.

The former head of state stressed that she "will not be a candidate for anything, neither senator, vice president, nor President" in the 2023 general elections, apparently giving up any possibility of benefiting from any immunity, although the appeal at several levels does not allow the application of the verdict years ago.

The prosecution had requested that she be sentenced to 12 years in prison and banned from running for elections.

Kirchner remains a key and divisive figure in Argentine politics seven years after leaving the presidency. She has consistently denied the charges against her and her lawyers have called for her acquittal.

Throughout the proceedings since 2019, she has condemned the trial as "political", considering it to be led by judges who were exploited by the right-wing opposition, in particular the Macri camp, referring to her successor in the presidency (2015-2019) liberal Mauricio Macri.

Kirchner's position at the head of the Senate gives her parliamentary immunity, which she seems to be giving up in the future, as her announcement suggests that she will not seek a mandate in 2023, but will "return home". "Let me go to jail,"she said.

In a video address recorded in her Senate office, Kirchner said that "the verdict was ready and the idea is to convict me". She condemned what she described as a "parallel state" and a"judicial mafia".