Overview
- The Federal Chamber of Casación Penal issued rulings on July 16 and 17 that denied Lázaro Báez’s request for house arrest and declared Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s extraordinary appeal inadmissible.
- Casación’s majority said medical reports do not show that Báez’s chronic illnesses cannot be treated inside the Ezeiza prison, so he must continue serving his unified sentence in custody.
- In Kirchner’s case the court left in place electronic monitoring, limits on visits and restricted terrace access, saying those conditions fall within the legal regime for house arrest and can be reviewed by the judge of execution.
- Judge Mariano Borinsky dissented in both cases, arguing that Báez’s age, multiple pathologies and family circumstances and Kirchner’s privacy and monitoring issues warranted higher-court review.
- The decisions tighten the standard for granting prison morigerations in high-profile corruption convictions and reduce the immediate chances that the Supreme Court will take up these disputes, though a direct complaint to the Court remains possible.