An Argentine court on Wednesday sentenced a gunman to 10 years in prison for his failed attempt to assassinate former president Cristina Kirchner, an act of violence that shocked the South American country.

Sabag Montiel, 38, pointed a gun at Kirchner’s head as she mingled with supporters outside her home on September 1, 2022. He pulled the trigger but the gun misfired. The assassination attempt, which was caught on video, took place as the left-wing Kirchner was on trial for fraud.

Montiel, who was caught by Kirchner’s followers, was convicted of aggravated attempted murder using a firearm. The judge hearing the case at a court north of the capital Buenos Aires said Montiel would serve 14 years in prison after combining his new sentence with those from previous convictions.

His former girlfriend, Brenda Uliarte, was sentenced to eight years after being found guilty of being a “necessary accomplice” in the attack. During the trial, Montiel defended his actions as “an act of justice,” saying Argentina’s polarising 2007-2015 president “corrupts, steals and harms society.” The defence team for Uliarte argued mental incompetence. The prosecution dropped charges against a third defendant after concluding that he had been unaware of the plot.

Analyst Facundo Cruz told AFP the attempted assassination of the leftist leader had “brought back dark memories” of violence being used “to resolve political differences” in Argentina. Referring to the killings of political activists during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, he said that “something that was thought to have been banished…could still happen” again.

The failed assassination mobilised hundreds of thousands of Kirchner’s supporters, who took to the streets to back her. It occurred at the start of her corruption trial, which ended with her conviction and house arrest since June. Following her conviction, 72-year-old Kirchner has repeatedly claimed that her political opponents “want me in prison or dead.”

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