BUENOS AIRES — Former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez said Wednesday that she was the victim of political persecution after appearing before a local judge in a state fraud investigation.

Thousands of supporters who had gathered outside the courthouse cheered as Fernandez was ushered inside with her lawyer for closed-door questioning. They cheered again when she came out a short time later after presenting a written statement that said: ‘‘Only via an exercise in an abuse of judicial power was this case able to go forward.’’

Judge Claudio Bonadio had called Fernandez to testify about her alleged role in the central bank’s decision to sell dollars on the futures market at an artificially low price in the months before leaving office in December. At the time, there was a large gap between the official rate of the peso against the dollar and the rate on the booming black market.

Fernandez has denied any wrongdoing, saying that the transaction did not cause losses to the central bank.

Associated Press