(MENAFN) A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Argentina’s ex-president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, will serve a six-year prison sentence under house arrest on corruption charges.

The decision emphasized Kirchner’s age—72—and her high-profile status as reasons for the house arrest arrangement. The court also pointed to security risks, highlighting that Kirchner survived an assassination attempt in 2022, stating her protection “would become complex in a situation of prison confinement in coexistence with any type of prison population.”

The ruling mandates that Kirchner must immediately begin serving her sentence, confined to her Buenos Aires apartment, where she lives with her daughter and granddaughter. She will be subject to electronic monitoring.

The judge specified that Kirchner “must remain at the registered address, an obligation that she may not break except in exceptional situations.” Any visitors other than domestic staff, medical professionals, or other approved individuals require prior court authorization.

Kirchner’s initial six-year prison sentence, handed down in 2022 along with a lifetime ban from holding public office due to corruption, had been stayed pending the Supreme Court’s review of her appeal.

In a related historical note, former President Carlos Menem passed away before serving a seven-year sentence for illegal arms sales to Ecuador and Croatia, having only completed roughly six months of pretrial detention in 2001.

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