BUENOS AIRES - An Argentine judge ruled ex-president Cristina Kirchner, who began serving a six-year sentence for fraud under house arrest earlier this week, can continue greeting her supporters from her balcony.
Since her sentence began on Tuesday, Kirchner's supporters have been keeping vigil outside her Buenos Aires apartment building, and she has made several brief appearances for them from her second-floor balcony.
After losing her final appeal against her fraud conviction last week, the two-term former president's neighbourhood in central Buenos Aires has been mobbed by her fiercely devoted leftist followers.
The 72-year-old, who was convicted of "fraudulent administration" during her 2007-2015 presidency, has sought to mobilise her base by regularly appearing on her balcony.
But the terms of her confinement, which included a ban on "any behaviour that could disturb the peace of the neighbourhood" had led to fears that she could be confined to indoors.
Kirchner's conviction ended the career of a giant of the Argentine left, who has led opposition to libertarian President Javier Milei's austerity agenda.
Her sentence included a lifelong ban on her holding public office and a requirement that she wear an electronic monitoring anklet.
In an audio message played to a giant solidarity rally in central Buenos Aires on Wednesday, she vowed that the left would bounce back from what she and her supporters see as a politically motivated case.
"We will return, with greater wisdom, unity and strength," she declared.