The Argentinian Vice-President, a former president, could be facing up to 12 years in prison as she fights corruption accusations related to public works.
So how did Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a still-influential voice for the left wing of the ruling Peronist party, land here?
Here's a breakdown.
What is she accused of?
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is accused of defrauding the state due to her alleged involvement in a scheme to divert public funds during her two terms as president between 2007 and 2015.
The investigation seeks to establish whether she and other officials in her administration favoured firms owned by businessman Lazaro Baez in the bidding processes for dozens of public works in the southern region of Patagonia, many of which were overpriced or were not completed.
Many experts suspect the allegedly diverted capital would have returned to the hands of the Kirchner family through their companies.
Another 12 people are also accused of involvement in the illicit attribution of public works contracts.
What does she say?
The vice president has always denied any wrongdoing including when she testified in court in 2019.
She claimed on Twitter the prosecution is in "open violation of the principle of defence in court," claiming some of the charges against her had not previously been brought up.
Ms Fernández de Kirchner also said she would defend herself on social media, while slamming what she claimed was being put before a media and legal "firing squad".
She added she was not given an opportunity to testify on new elements of the case and would present her defence on social media.
(Translation: "If something was missing to confirm that I am not before a court of the Constitution but before a media-judicial firing squad, it is to prevent me from exercising the right of defence before questions... that never appeared in the prosecutor's indictment that I attended for five days in May 2019.)
One of her lawyers, Gregorio Dalbon claimed the prosecution was "leaving the rule of law and creating a media story," essentially fake news.
President Alberto Fernandez also condemned the decision on Twitter, describing the decision as a case of judicial persecution against the former president.
"None of the actions attributed to the ex-president has been proved and the whole accusation is based purely on the function she exercised at that time, which sadly degrades the most basic principles of modern criminal law," he said.
What penalty is she facing?
The crimes she is accused of are punishable by up to 16 years in prison.
Argentina's public prosecutor, Diego Luciani, has asked that the Vice-President be sentenced to 12 years in prison and disqualified from public office for life.
"This is probably the biggest corruption manoeuvre that has ever been known in the country," Mr Luciani said in arguing for the sentence.
However, even if convicted she would not go to jail so long as she benefits from parliamentary immunity as an elected senator.
That immunity would be lost if she either lost her senate seat or the Supreme Court was to ratify an eventual guilty verdict.
The sentence will be known in months, according to local media, although Ms Fernández de Kirchner could appeal it to higher courts, which would take years to reach a final verdict.
Has she been in trouble before?
Yes, she has been investigated in recent years in a dozen different cases for crimes such as bribery, money laundering, speculative damage to the state and obstruction of justice.
Several of those have been dismissed but five remain active.
In 2015, Ms Fernández de Kirchner was accused of conspiring with Iranian officials over a 1994 bombing at a Buenos Aires Jewish centre, which killed 85 people and injured 300.
The attack was the deadliest in Argentine history.
That case took a turn when prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead in a pool of blood, from a gunshot wound, in his Buenos Aires apartment just hours before he was due to testify at a congressional hearing.
However, all charges were dismissed in October 2021 when a three-judge panel found an agreement made between the then-president and Iranian officials was not considered criminal.
ABC/Wires
