Leader of Argentina's Mothers of Plaza de Mayo arrested

Hebe de Bonafini, president of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo human rights group, flashes a vee as she leaves the historic square after taking part in the traditional weekly march in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016. (AP Photo / Jorge Saenz)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentine police have arrested the president of the human rights groups Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo for refusing to appear for questioning into the alleged embezzlement of public funds meant for a low-income housing project.

Local TV stations showed Hebe de Bonafini being picked up Thursday.

A magistrate has been probing since 2011 the diversion of $14 million in funds from the housing project registered in the name of the Mothers.

De Bonafini called the probe politically motivated and blamed the group's two legal representatives. The Mothers gained fame standing up to Argentina's military dictators in the late 1970s, demanding an accounting of their disappeared children.

The group in recent years became close to Cristina Fernandez, the leftist president who governed from 2007-2015.