Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced Wednesday that she has raised her corruption conviction with the United Nations Human Rights Committee, maintaining her innocence and alleging judicial arbitrariness in a bid to remove her permanently from political life. The 73-year-old, a dominant and polarising figure in domestic politics, served as the nation’s president from 2007 to 2015 after succeeding her late husband, former president Néstor Kirchner, in office. The UN Human Rights Committee, a body of 18 independent experts, monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its member states, including Argentina. According to Fernández de Kirchner, her petition seeks to have the judges who presided over the proceedings that led to her conviction “subjected to the scrutiny of international human rights law.” Fernández de Kirchner remains one of the nation’s most influential political figures, revered by many on the left but fiercely opposed by conservatives and libertarians.