A federal judge in Argentina indicted former President Cristina Fernandez for treason and asked for her arrest for allegedly covering up Iran's possible role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people, a court ruling said.
As Fernandez is a senator, Congress would first have to vote to strip her of parliamentary immunity for an arrest to occur. The judge, Claudio Bonadio, also indicted and ordered house arrest for Fernandez's Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, the 491-page ruling said.
Fernandez called a news conference in Congress to deny wrongdoing and accuse Bonadio and President Mauricio Macri of degrading the judiciary.
"It is an invented case about facts that did not exist," she said, dressed in white.
Timerman's lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
While removing immunity from lawmakers is rare in Argentina, Congress voted on Oct. 25 to do so for Fernandez's former planning minister Julio De Vido and he was arrested the same day. De Vido is accused of fraud and corruption, which he denies.
(Reuters)
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