Argentina’s ex-finance minister sentenced to jail
Former Argentine Finance Minister Felisa Miceli has been sentenced to three years in prison for covering up an apparently illegal financial operation.
Miceli was convicted by the First Oral Federal Court in Buenos Aires on Monday in the case which involved a bag with 100,000 pesos (about 30,000 dollars) and 31,000 US dollars being found in the private bathroom of her office in 2007.
“It would be a tremendous injustice to become a prisoner. I have repented. It makes me furious,” said Miceli, in tears on Monday in her final statement in court before the verdict was issued. In December 2012, a Buenos Aires court sentenced Miceli to four years in prison.
“I made a mistake. I will never occupy a public office again. I learned my lesson. It’s not out of fear that I don’t want to go to jail, but rather because it makes me angry, it hurts me that it can be so unfair,” she said.
Miceli, 62, became finance minister in 2005 and resigned in 2007 amid the scandal over the discovery of the money. She argued the money was a loan from her brother and was to be used to buy a house.
However, Miceli will not go to jail since the sentence was deemed to be “in suspension,” whereby sentences of up to three years in prison are not served.
The court confiscated the money that was found in the incident and barred the ex-minister from holding public office for six years.
YH/GHN/HMV
‘Unsubstantiated’: Iran rejects Argentine court's blaming for AMIA bombing
Thousands rally against rising hunger in Argentina amid austerity measures
OIC condemns Argentina's decision to relocate embassy to al-Quds
‘200 days of livestreamed genocide’: Netizens react as Gaza war marks 200 days
Confirmed: Iran’s star striker Mehdi Taremi joining Italian champions Inter Milan
Google fires more employees over anti-Israel protests
Iran set to build more nuclear power plants: AEOI chief
'Iran’s True Promise ushers in new era for region; strategic implications felt across globe'
VIDEO | Arrest and harassment: US intensifies crackdown on pro-Gaza protests in universities
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
France fails to ban anti-Islamophobia protests
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
