Federal prosecutors on Wednesday formally charged former Argentine President Alberto Fernández with assaulting former first lady Fabiola Yáñez.
Prosecutor Ramiro Gonzalez charged Fernandez with “minor and serious bodily injury, a felony” and “coercive intimidation” against his former partner, according to a court ruling seen by The Associated Press.
Gonzalez also called for additional evidentiary measures, including testimony from former presidential physician Federico Saavedra and former presidential secretary Maria Cantero.
Fernandez, a leftist Peronist politician who served as Argentina’s president from 2019 to 2023, strongly denied her allegations and promised to prove in court “what really happened.”
Yáñez testified in Argentina’s federal court on Tuesday in a lawsuit accusing Fernández of sexual assault.
Fabiola Yáñez in 2023. Matias Baglietto/NurPhoto via Getty Images file
The former first lady testified via video call from the Argentine consulate in Madrid, confirming the complaint she submitted in writing to Prosecutor Gonzalez last week.
The charges against Fernandez came weeks after the allegations against Yañez first emerged in thousands of leaked text messages that federal investigators were reviewing in a separate embezzlement case against Fernandez, in which he was accused of fraud in the awarding of state insurance policies, a charge he also denies.
Argentine media recently published photos showing what appeared to be marks from a beating on Mr. Yañez’s face and underarms, which the former first lady apparently sent in a message to Mr. Fernandez’s former secretary.
Fernandez has not been seen outside his Buenos Aires apartment since the allegations against Yáñez came to light.
