The Argentine courts have formally charged Alberto Fernández, the country's former president, for violence against the former first lady. Casco was indicted this month, the attacks lasted eight years and his former partner, Fabiola Yañez, has already been heard - giving details of the situation that ‘paint’ a real nightmare.
Former Argentine President Alberto Fernández was charged this Wednesday with injuries caused to his ex-wife, threats and abuse of power. The case has been talked about in the press, after former First Lady Fabiola Yañez denounced her former partner earlier this month.
The former Argentine head of state has denied the crime several times and even had his passport revoked.
The formal accusation comes after the Attorney General's Office heard the former First Lady, a testimony that made the accusations even more serious.
According to reports in the Argentine press, Alberto Fernández, 65, was initially investigated for minor assaults, but now he will also be charged with abuse of power, as well as more serious injuries and threats.
After sharing photographs taken after the attacks, Fabiola Yañez claimed that she had been the victim of daily episodes of reproductive, institutional, verbal, physical and domestic violence, as well as constant betrayal.
According to the press, in a hearing held on Tuesday, the 43-year-old woman confessed that her husband had forced her to have an abortion.
The attacks allegedly took place over a period of eight years and the Argentine Public Prosecutor's Office authorized four other people to be heard as witnesses in the case, including a former secretary of Fernández and a doctor.
From "obsession" to abortion
Fabiola Yañez said that Alberto Fernández "'pushed' her to have an abortion" because "he wasn't ready" to be a father.
The woman said that the situations that had been occurring over time already demonstrated some "obsession", and gave an example by saying that she had to "always pay attention to the calls" he made to her. According to her, the situation reached the point where she "couldn't interact with others and have a normal life" or "go out with friends"; since she had to answer "every three minutes".
"If I went out, it was because I was cheating on him. The strange thing about it was that, while I stayed at home with a friend, he went out to be with other women; which I found out about in the end", she said.
Fabiola said that she had already talked about having children, and that the moment she got pregnant arrived, as well as the period in which "Alberto Fernández's contempt and rejection of the unborn child appeared".
"He started attacking me and saying that it was too soon. He told me: 'I can't tell anyone that I'm going to have a child with you in such a short time' and 'we need to resolve this'. You have to abort. It was such a perversion that he told his son [from a previous marriage] that I was pregnant and then blamed me for the abortion," she recalled.
The woman also says that suffering from reproductive violence through "abandonment, contempt and accusations" left her vulnerable and led her "to make the terrible decision to abort my son, thus causing me serious psychological and emotional damage to this day."
When the case was reported, photographs of the marks left by the attacks also appeared, as well as messages.
The departure... and the return
According to her testimony, she even went to London, in the United Kingdom, but returned to the former president, who promised to start a family. “However, as in the beginning, the constant harassment and persecution returned. At the same time, I received messages from many women who told me they had an intimate history with him, which I denied. One of these people is the one who managed his communication", she points out.
Fabiola says that she later sought medical help and started taking medication. Fabiola became pregnant and had a child with the former president in 2022, but according to what she says, the episodes of violence continued.
“I couldn't take it anymore. I insisted that I wanted to leave. I put up with the physical abuse. Even at the end of my pregnancy, he used to push me a lot. If I sat down holding my head or my belly because I couldn't stand the abuse, he would scream in my face", she recalls.
As his presidential term drew to a close, Alberto Fernández became “more nervous,” according to what he said. “At night, he would scream and slap me, leaving my face burning. I would walk to the guest house (a house next to the official residence) while I heard the screams. On the third or fourth day in a row that he beat me, I moved into the guest house with my son and brought my mother. I was afraid of him. He would bang on the door and scream. I had no peace,” he said.
Fabiola describes the situation she experienced as “psychological terrorism.”
