Argentina ex-president Fernandez on trial for beating girlfriend

Argentine ex-president Alberto Fernandez was ordered to stand trial for allegedly beating his ex-girlfriend, according to a court ruling issued Monday.

Fabiola Yanez, 43, filed a complaint against Fernandez, 65 — by then her ex-partner — after messages detailing the alleged violence cropped up in a separate fraud investigation against him.

The messages, with photographic evidence, were found on the phone of Fernandez’s private secretary, Maria Cantero.

The phone was being analyzed as part of a probe into alleged influence peddling during Fernandez’s administration.

After initially deciding not to press charges, Yanez later contacted the investigating judge to file a criminal complaint “for the blows I received from him and the threats I have been suffering,'” her lawyer has said.

According to Monday’s ruling by that judge, seen by AFP, Fernandez will stand accused of causing “serious injuries” to Yanez, with whom he has a son, and of subjecting her to “coercive threats.”

The pair separated after Fernandez left office in 2023.

Fernandez has denied the accusation, and can appeal the decision to put him on trial.

The judge placed a freeze on part of Fernandez’s assets and obliged him to give notice of 72 hours of any planned absence from his home city of Buenos Aires.