The most important tribunal below the Supreme Court, the Criminal Cassation Chamber, made up of judges Gustavo Hornos, Mariano Borinsky, and Diego Barroetaveña, will meet today to determine whether to uphold the conviction of Cristina Kirchner in the case of arms sales to Ecuador and Croatia, in which former president Carlos Menem was also involved.
Gustavo Hornos is the longest-serving judge in the Cassation Chamber since its creation in 1995. Throughout his career, Hornos has participated in various significant cases, such as the conviction of María Julia Alsogaray and the investigation of the LAPA plane crash. He also signed the opening of Alberto Nisman’s complaint against Cristina Kirchner and confirmed the preventive detentions in the Oil Combustibles case.
On the other hand, Mariano Borinsky, currently in charge of the Cassation Chamber, was part of the confirmation of the conviction in the Ciccone case involving Amado Boudou. Borinsky rejected an attempt to disqualify the former president in a prior investigation.
Diego Barroetaveña, in addition to serving in the Cassation Chamber, is a leader of the Magistrates' Association and led the development of reforms to the Criminal Procedure Code. Previously, he was involved in the case of Mariano Ferreyra's death and in the conviction of the leaders of the Railway Union. Barroetaveña was one of the judges responsible for reopening investigations against Cristina Kirchner.
There was palpable anticipation in the federal courts of Retiro, where strong security measures and double fencing were implemented in anticipation of the judicial resolution in the Vialidad case implicating Cristina Kirchner with a six-year prison sentence. The ruling would be read by the judges of the Cassation Chamber, Gustavo Hornos, Mariano Borinsky, and Diego Barroetaveña, in a courtroom of the building. The defense of the former president has argued based on the judge's visits to Mauricio Macri in the Casa Rosada during his presidency.
