Vanesa Petrillo 
Former President Alberto Fernández has accused his former first lady, Fabiola Yañez, of “violating and disseminating secrets and illegally accessing his Google cloud.” He is reporting his former partner for a crime of which he claims to be “an ongoing victim,” and which he says is affecting third parties who are experiencing gender-based violence.
Fernández, who was indicted last week on accusations of causing serious injury over the alleged incidents reported by Fabiola Yañez, has now filed a lawsuit against his former partner.
“It is malicious and evident that a smear campaign has been launched against me, spreading false accounts that harm me, and also affect my children, siblings, and third parties,” stated Alberto.
Fernández is referring to the publication of videos and private information “illegally disseminated from a personal phone that is linked to my private account.”
“The accused, Fabiola, is the only person who had access to the information that has been disseminated,” states the legal filing.
In the written submission, Fernández explains that the private information that was spread “is on the phone that was my property, which I gave to my son Francisco with applications meant for his entertainment, and that contained my personal photo gallery.”
“I gave that Samsung phone to my son to play with and to watch children’s videos on YouTube and similar platforms,” the document reads.
“Therefore, I accuse his mother, an adult person with full knowledge of how to access my private information and much less [sic] disseminate it,” he added.
“My son having the phone does not authorize Ms. Yañez to extract private information about me and third parties unrelated to the process,” states the lawsuit, which Fernández signed.
The former president filed the complaint because, he alleges, Fabiola “maliciously” used the phone to spread videos “to be seen on national television, tarnishing my honor and that of other people.”
Fernández’s lawsuit is over the publication of videos of Tamara Pettinato, a TV personality and comedian whom he says he has known for several years.
In the first video, which appears to have been filmed by Fernández, Pettinato can be seen drinking a glass of beer and talking to him flirtatiously. He is heard off-camera making remarks and laughing. Subsequent videos, apparently filmed in similar circumstances, showed Pettinato writing a “love letter” to the president at the time, and sitting in the president’s office pretending to sign joke paperwork. The videos do not show illegal or sexual behavior.
“It is undeniable that I have been a victim of an unlawful intrusion into my privacy by third parties, and it is a state duty to restore the rule of law in order to penalize such conduct,” reads the document filed by Fernández.
The former president has requested, as a precautionary measure, that the court order a halt to the publication or reproduction of any material referring to possible videos or photos of him or third parties, and which involve a violation of rights.
