The Federal Oral Court 7 in Buenos Aires resumed hearings on Tuesday in the case known as the 'Notebooks of Bribes,' in which former President Cristina Kirchner is the main accused. According to the indictment, this scheme had at least two complementary channels and is allegedly led by Cristina Kirchner. Once the tribunal resolves the preliminary motions, it will grant intervention to the prosecutor's office and the plaintiff from the Financial Information Unit (UIF) before defining whether to advance to the evidence production and interrogation stage. The presidency of the tribunal ordered that the motion be processed by the secretariat to avoid interrupting the hearing. Procedural objections were reiterated by different defenses. The tribunal must decide whether to grant this motion. In parallel, former Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime filed a recusal against Judge Fernando Canero. At the start of the session, new motions for nullity and recusals were presented, which will be analyzed at the end of this procedural stage. According to Noticias Argentinas agency, one of the central requests came from businessman Mario Rovella, president of the construction company Rovella Carranza S.A., who requested the nullity of his statement as a collaborating defendant. Rovella had acknowledged illegal payments presented as 'contributions' to political campaigns. In addition to asking that his statement be nullified, he offered an economic repair close to half a million dollars with the aim of extinguishing the criminal action. Through his defender, Pablo Medrano, he stated that his testimony was given under 'coercion' and his will was 'bent' by the threat of being detained. These arguments were taken up by other defendants. The defense of Roberto Barattin also insisted on the link between Stornelli and the fake lawyer Marcelo D'Alessio, convicted for extortion and illegal espionage, while the representation of Julio De Vido recalled that the former minister was acquitted of the crime of illicit association in the Viality case. The accusation maintains that during the period 2003-2015, an illegal collection system operated in which entrepreneurs from construction, energy, and transport delivered money in exchange of benefits for their companies. The lawyer for the former head of state, Carlos Beraldi, questioned the origin of the case by denouncing a supposed 'forum shopping' and pointed to the late judge Claudio Bonadio and prosecutor Carlos Stornelli for the use of the figure of the collaborator. According to the lawyer, it was 'a mechanism incompatible with the Rule of Law' applied systematically in the process.
