Argentina's most significant corruption trial, known as the "Notebooks of Bribes" case, has begun. The former President Cristina Kirchner is at the center of the proceedings, accused of leading a criminal organization and receiving 204 bribes.
The first day of the trial, which lasted four hours, saw the reading of the first 132 pages of the 678-page indictment. The hearing is being held remotely due to COVID-19 precautions. Cristina Kirchner, who is under house arrest in a separate corruption case, did not appear, with her lawyer Carlos Beraldi representing her interests.
The prosecution presented evidence to support the claim that Cristina Kirchner, as President of Argentina, acted as an accomplice in receiving money. A specific case from 2009 involving a $300,000 payment was cited. The funds were transferred through a chain: from businessman Carlos Wagner to official Roberto Baratta, and then to Daniel Muñoz, who was the private secretary of Kirchner's late husband, former President Néstor Kirchner.
The trial will be held weekly and is expected to continue until March 2026. A total of 86 defendants are involved, including 60 businessmen who, for the first time in Argentina's history, are sitting in the dock as part of a corruption scheme. The prosecution alleges that the criminal group operated at the highest levels of power from 2003 to 2015, using public works contracts to illicitly enrich themselves.
Cristina Kirchner, for her part, dismissed the trial as a "judicial operetta," repeating her defense from a previous corruption case in which she was sentenced to six years in prison.
