BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's ex-president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on Monday appeared in a federal court to face accusations of corruption, denouncing that she was a victim of judicial persecution.
Fernandez, currently a senator, refuted charges that during her time in office from 2007 to 2015, she accepted bribes from companies seeking lucrative government contracts.
Fernandez submitted her testimony in a letter to the court presided by Judge Claudio Bonadio, who is heading an investigation into an alleged bribery scheme run from 2003 to 2015 under her government and that led by her husband, Nestor Kirchner.
She did not speak in her defense or make statements to the press, but went on Twitter saying the charges have been politically motivated, presumably to derail her political career.
The case is a "political decision by the Judicial Branch ... in coordination with the Executive Branch," wrote Fernandez.
She also referred to other cases of former presidents in other Latin American countries becoming targets of judicial investigation, such as Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is now serving a sentence in prison, and Ecuador's Rafael Correa, who was in early July charged with involvement in an attempted kidnapping of a political rival five years ago.
"This is the new regional strategy to outlaw leaders, movements and political forces that broadened rights and allowed millions of people to make it out of poverty during the first decade and a half of the 21st century," said Fernandez.
Fernandez added she has been asking authorities to audit all the public works projects involved in the charges against her and "my request has been denied."
According to Fernandez, the case against her also serves to distract people's attention from the country's current economic problems, including a plummeting currency and worsening inflation.
The Argentine peso hit a record low of more than 30 against the U.S. dollar, she noted.
