TEHRAN, May 21- Argentina's populist former leader Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, fresh from shaking up the country's national election race with a vice presidential bid, will be at the center of more drama on Tuesday as a corruption trial against her gets under way.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The trial will address multiple corruption allegations dating to Fernandez's two terms as president from 2007 to 2015, including accusations she received kickbacks from construction companies to award projects for which the state paid exorbitant amounts.
The allegations, which Fernandez strongly denies, could cast a shadow over the divisive leader's political push as she looks to win over the more moderate wing of the Peronist opposition to take on center-right incumbent Mauricio Macri in elections set for October.
Fernandez shocked the nation on Saturday by saying she would run for the deputy role alongside former cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez, a veteran political operator who has both backed and criticized her in the past.
A leftist and militant Peronist, Cristina Fernandez had been seen as the top potential challenger to Macri.
The charges against her could end in a sentence of up to 10 years in jail, should she be found guilty of leading a graft ring that defrauded the state of millions of dollars.
As a sitting senator, she currently has immunity from arrest, however.
Source: Reuters
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