Buenos Aires, Dec 21. Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández (2007-2015) was admitted to a hospital in Buenos Aires on Saturday with a case of appendicitis that required surgery, sources from the former leader's entourage told EFE. Fernández has been serving a six-year prison sentence under house arrest since last June. She was admitted to the Otamendi sanatorium in the Argentine capital on medical recommendation due to acute abdominal pain. The former leader then underwent tests that concluded she had appendicitis, leading to the decision to operate. To be transferred from her home in the Constitución neighborhood, where she is serving her sentence, she had to receive judicial authorization. This marks her first departure from her residence since her detention took effect on June 17 of this year, following the ratification of the conviction in the 'Vialidad' case. In this case, she was found guilty of irregularities in the awarding of public works in the province of Santa Cruz during her government and that of her late husband. In addition to the six-year prison sentence, she has also been permanently disqualified from holding public office. Since November 6 of last year, Fernández has been facing a new trial—virtually—on the corruption case known as 'the notebooks of bribes,' where she is accused of leading an illicit association of 86 people to collect bribes from businessmen in exchange for public contracts between 2003 and 2015.
