Argentina's Kirchner urges backers not to gather as police deploy / Photo: © AFP
Argentina's Kirchner urges backers not to gather as police deploy
Argentine ex-president Cristina Kirchner urged supporters Friday not to gather outside her Buenos Aires apartment, where she is serving a six-year fraud sentence, saying she feared police violence.
Kirchner alleged on social media the government had "orchestrated a police operation at the door of my house with the sole purpose of provoking conflicts."
She called on her backers, who held a days-long vigil outside her flat, to exercise "wisdom and restraint" and to organize a demonstration planned for Friday elsewhere.
AFP witnessed police barriers around the building, with several police trucks stationed nearby.
The 72-year-old, convicted of "fraudulent administration" over public works contracts awarded during her 2007-2015 two-term presidency, had an appeal overturned by the Supreme Court last week.
The court upheld her sentence and a life ban on holding public office.
A different judge allowed Kirchner to serve her sentence at home, which quickly became the scene of solidarity demonstrations.
On Wednesday, tens of thousands of people marched on a central square under the banner "Argentina with Cristina."
The following day, a judge ruled Kirchner may use her second-floor balcony, under which supporters had been keeping vigil and where she made several brief appearances.
A ban on "any behavior that could disturb the peace of the neighborhood" had led to fears she could be confined indoors.
Kirchner has challenged limited visitation rights ordered by the court, restricted to family members, doctors and lawyers in what her team described as "a totally arbitrary exclusion regime."
There has been speculation Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva could try and visit her when he travels to Buenos Aires for a summit in July.
He would have to request a court's permission.
P.Murphy--TNT
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