Argentine ex-President Kirchner handed house arrest in graft case

Argentina's former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner stands on a balcony, on the day the Federal Court of Criminal Appeals confirmed a prison sentence on charges of alleged corruption in the awarding of public works during her presidency, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Matias Baglietto/File Photo

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -An Argentine judge on Tuesday put former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner under house arrest to serve out a six-year sentence for corruption in a case that has effectively brought down the country's most prominent politician in recent decades.

Kirchner, 72, a polarizing leftist two-term president from 2007 to 2015, as well as a former first lady, VP and Senator, was convicted by a court in 2022 over a fraud scheme involving public projects in Patagonia that allegedly benefited an ally.