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Judge orders former Argentinian president Kirchner be held pending corruption hearings

FORMER Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner could be jailed after a judge ordered her pre-trial detention as she faces charges of bribery committed while she was in power.

Judge Claudio Bonadio made the order after Ms Kirchner was accused of “illicit association” and operating a “corruption network” during her two presidential terms up to 2015.

Her status as a senator in Argentina’s parliament grants her immunity, but this could be lifted if agreed by two-thirds of the country’s legislators.

Prosecutor Carlos Stornelli has said a total of $160 million (£122m) in bribes was handed over to the Kirchner administration between 2005 and 2015.

The allegations were made after an exposé in La Nacion newspaper suggested the former driver of Julio de Vido, federal planning and public investment minister between 2003 and 2015 kept records of bags of cash given by business executives to Ms Kirchner’s government.

At her last court appearance, the former president stressed her denial that she had committed any crime.

She has accused prosecutors of “judicial persecution” and bringing the charges against her to stop her running as a presidential candidate in next year’s election.

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