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A Peru court sentenced ex-President Ollanta Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, to 15 years in prison for taking illegal campaign funds from Brazilian firm Odebrecht. The case is part of a wider corruption scandal that has rocked Latin America.
UPDATED: Apr 16, 2025 07:15 IST
A Peru court sentenced former President Ollanta Humala to 15 years in prison on Tuesday. He was convicted of taking illicit campaign funds from the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht, which has since been renamed Novonor. His wife, Nadine Heredia, was also sentenced to 15 years.
The court stated that Humala and Heredia accepted the money during his election campaign in 2011. Prosecutors said that the funds assisted Humala in defeating his opponent, Keiko Fujimori, and becoming president. The money allegedly flowed through Humala's political party, the ist Party.
Once the court made its ruling, Peru's foreign ministry reported that Heredia entered the Brazilian embassy in Lima seeking asylum. Her lawyers reported she suffers from cancer and previously requested to travel to Brazil for medical treatment, but it was rejected.
According to reports, negotiations are underway with Peru regarding offering Heredia safe passage to exit the country.
The court's decision came after a long investigation that started in 2016. The trial itself lasted three years. During the trial, Humala said he was a victim of "political persecution."
Although Humala can appeal the sentence, he will still start serving his sentence immediately. The court will resume reading the complete sentence in the days ahead.
Humala's attorney, Wilfredo Pedraza, stated that the sentence was too severe. He also claimed that the prosecutors failed to show the source of the campaign funds.
"The sentence is excessive," Pedraza stated. He further stated that the defense would formally appeal the ruling on April 29.
ODEBRECHT SCANDAL EXPOSES DECADES OF DEEP-ROOTED CORRUPTION
Humala's indictment is one of a broader corruption scandal surrounding Odebrecht, which was dubbed as "Lava Jato" or "Car Wash" probe. The firm confessed to paying bribes to numerous Latin American governments in order to secure construction contracts. Odebrecht rebranded itself as Novonor in 2020 and is currently facing bankruptcy.
Humala is the second ex-Peruvian president to be sent to prison in relation to this scandal. He is the fourth ex-leader to be charged. In 2019, former President Alan Garcia took his own life as police came to his residence to take him in for his involvement in the case.
Former president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, was forced to step down in 2018 after only two years in office. Former President Alejandro Toledo received a 20-year prison term in 2023 for having accepted $35 million in bribes money to award public works contracts.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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Published By:
Satyam Singh
Published On:
Apr 16, 2025
