Argentina admitted to the illegal sale of armament by revealing the existence of three secret decrees signed by President Carlos Menem between the years of 1991 and 1995. The controversy regarding the decrees came about when the weapons sold did not go to Panama, Bolivia, and Venezuela as had been accorded, but instead the weapons ended up in Croatia and Ecuador at times when both of these nations were involved in wars and prohibited from receiving international military aid. The sale Argentina gave to Ecuador included 6.500 tons of rifles, cannons, anti-tank rockets, and ammunition. Menem was taken to court for his alleged association with these illegal acts in 2001, but was acquitted by Argentina's Supreme Court; however, in October 2008 the case was re-opened, but Menem avoided being detained by Argentine authorities until 2010 when his position as senator of La Rioja. Menem claimed to have had no association with the illegal weapons trade, and further adds that this is a political persecution made by Argentine president Cristina Fernández and, her husband and also former Argentine president, Néstor Kirchner. In 2013 Carlos Menem was sentenced to seven years in prison for arms-smuggling.