The former official of Kirchnerism was granted house arrest despite his 4-year prison sentence for the Once Tragedy and cases of illicit enrichment related to the period from 2003 to 2015.
The Third Chamber of the Federal Criminal Cassation Court, composed of judges Mariano Hernán Borinsky, Carlos Mahiques, and Guillermo Yacobucci, authorized the transfer of the former Minister of Federal Planning to his mansion in Zárate. Under the guise of a supposed "delicate" health condition, the man who managed the most million-dollar funds during the Kirchner governments between 2003 and 2015 will leave the Ezeiza prison.
The judge of the Federal Oral Court 4, Ricardo Ángel Basílico, was responsible for operationalizing this benefit today for the corrupt former Minister of Public Works of Cristina Kirchner. According to the ruling, despite the crimes committed, Julio Miguel De Vido will be monitored through the imposition of an electronic ankle bracelet and control, in addition to maintaining the prohibition of leaving the country.
This judicial decision is based on the clinical picture of a man aged 76 who, according to expert evaluations, cannot be adequately cared for behind bars. The report from the Forensic Medical Corps was damning, warning that “if the specified requirements were not fully or partially met, the prison environment would be considered an unsuitable place for the accommodation of the mentioned individual, increasing the risk of decompensations and the emergence of irreparable disorders for his health”.
Among the medical details that facilitated this release are:
Diffuse arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes.
Persistent atrial fibrillation and hypertension.
History of stroke and an acute myocardial infarction suffered on April 1 of this year, which resulted in an angioplasty with stent implantation.
The file details that the former official requires permanent treatment with anticoagulants (apixaban) and antiarrhythmics (amiodarone), in addition to a healthcare infrastructure that the prison supposedly lacks for a “high cardiovascular risk patient”.
Once Tragedy
However, for the Argentine people, these ailments do not erase the criminal responsibility for the looting of the State. De Vido is serving a sentence of 4 years in prison and perpetual special disqualification for the crime of fraudulent administration to the detriment of the public administration in the context of the “Once 2 Tragedy”, that fateful event in February 2012 where state negligence caused the death of 52 people. It is worth noting that, according to information, this sentence also encompasses crimes of illicit enrichment committed during the looted Kirchnerist decade.
Although the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation upheld his sentence in November of last year, justice continues to be elusive regarding the effective enforcement of the sentence in a common prison. While the former minister takes refuge in his property in Zárate, he still has to respond in trials such as the Notebooks case, where the payment of million-dollar bribes in public works is being analyzed. In light of this situation, the government's determination under Milei to reform the system and end the impunity of the corrupt becomes more necessary than ever.
