Former President Alberto Fernández’s erstwhile presidential doctor spent over six hours testifying to the prosecutor on Thursday in the case investigating the former leader for alleged violence against his First Lady, Fabiola Yáñez.

Federico Saavedra testified that Yáñez had claimed at the time that she had “hurt herself unintentionally, something like an accidental blow,” sources close to the matter told the Herald. In August, Yañez had said in court filings that Saavedra gave her homeopathic medicine to treat a black eye after Fernández allegedly punched her.

Fernández’s defense also provided several written testimonies from reserved witnesses. Prosecutor Ramiro González will decide on Thursday whether to call those witnesses to testify in court.

The presidential doctor

Saavedra, who led Fernández’s presidential medical team, was called to testify after Yañez mentioned him in her descriptions of the violence she allegedly suffered from Fernández. Both Yañez and Fernández decided to relieve Saavedra of his obligation to professional secrecy so that he could testify freely.

In a document filed in court three weeks ago, Yañez said that Fernández gave her a black eye during an argument while they were living in the Quinta Olivos presidential residence in 2021. She says the couple called Saavedra after the bruising worsened. “He gave me arnica globules [a homeopathic remedy] and told me it would go away with time,” she wrote. “I spent days inside the house in Olivos because I couldn’t go out, so people wouldn’t see the bruise.”

González is also expected to analyze seven witness testimonies provided by Fernández’s attorney, Silvina Carreira. Those witnesses are former employees of the Olivos residence who testified before a notary to avoid revealing their identities to the public. However, if González deems their accounts credible, they will have to testify again in court.

These testimonies have largely been kept secret. However, they are understood to refer to Yañez’s alleged excessive alcohol consumption and Fernández’s claim that his ex’s black eye was the result of a cosmetic procedure.

Where is the case being heard?

Fernández requested the case be transferred to the local court in the northern Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro. However, the federal judiciary rejected that request and decided that the investigation would remain in the federal jurisdiction. It is being handled at the Comodoro Py federal court in Buenos Aires, at the hands of judge Julián Ercolini and prosecutor González.

Ercolini is also leading another investigation into allegations that Fernández oversaw irregularities in state insurance contracts. Last month, Fernández asked for Ercolini to be removed from the case. He argued that the judge could not be impartial because they had worked together as law professors at the University of Buenos Aires, where they had a strained relationship.

Fernández’s decision to provide reserved testimonies to the prosecutor in the gendered violence case may also be related to this strained relationship with the judge.

None of the witnesses who have testified in court so far have said they saw or had direct knowledge of the alleged beatings. However, the former manager of the presidential residence, Daniel Rodríguez, did say he heard the couple having heated arguments.

Who are the witnesses?

The current round of testimonies began two weeks ago. Among the witnesses who have appeared so far are María Cantero, Fernández’s former secretary, whom Yañez initially spoke to about the alleged blows she had suffered.

On Tuesday, at Yañez’s request, González will hear the testimony of aesthetician María Florencia Aguirre. She is friends with Yañez and frequently performed cosmetic procedures on her while she lived at Olivos.

The round will end on September 12, when González will receive Sofía Pacchi, a former friend of Yañez. In August 2021, Pacchi showed the former first lady suggestive messages Fernández was allegedly sending her. Yañez says Fernández beat her when she confronted him about the messages.

The prosecutor will then call another round of testimonies to hear witnesses proposed by Fernández’s defense and the plaintiff.

Fernández gender violence case: the timeline

Allegations that Fernández had been abusive to Yañez first surfaced through press reports at the beginning of August. The reports emerged after chats between Yañez and Cantero, including photos of Yañez with bruises on her arm and a black eye, were discovered during an analysis of Cantero’s phone in the insurance case. Yañez reported Fernández for gender-based violence on August 6. Since then, she has added charges such as abuse of power and authority.

The photos of Yánez’s bruises were subsequently leaked and published by the press on August 8, causing nationwide uproar. The Herald is not publishing the photos out of respect for the alleged victim’s privacy. Videos were also published on the same day, seemingly filmed by Fernández himself, showing him flirting with a journalist and comedian.

Both parties gave interviews to the press in the following days. In an interview with news site Infobae, Yañez painted a picture of a life of isolation, physical and psychological abuse, and constant infidelity, alleging that Fernández exhibited controlling behavior even before he took office.

Fernández gave an interview to Spanish newspaper El País denying the allegations. He acknowledged that verbal violence had taken place but alleged it was mutual, and that it never got physical.

The day the interview was published, Yañez provided further testimony to the judiciary, including the claim that Fernández had made her get an abortion before the procedure was legal in Argentina. Fernández was notified of the accusations by the judiciary later that day, before being formally indicted on August 11.

Based on Yañez’s accusations, Fernández is being charged for nine alleged episodes of abuse. González states in the indictment that she “suffered a relationship marked by stalking, psychological harassment, and physical aggression in a context of gender-based and domestic violence.”