A Peruvian court has sentenced the country’s former president, Ollanta Humala, to 15 years behind bars after he was convicted of money laundering charges linked to his presidential campaigns in 2006 and 2011.
Humala was found guilty of receiving illegal campaign financing from the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which has been at the center of a sweeping corruption scandal across Latin America.
His wife, Nadine Heredia, who co-founded the Peruvian Nationalist Party with him, was also convicted on similar charges and handed the same 15-year prison sentence.
According to Peru’s foreign ministry, Heredia has been granted asylum in Brazil. She and her son are expected to receive safe passage to the country.
The long-anticipated ruling was delivered on Tuesday, April 15, after a trial that stretched over three years. While Humala was physically present in the courtroom, Heredia followed the proceedings through a video call. Both have consistently denied the allegations leveled against them.
Details of the Trial
As reported by BBC, prosecutors originally sought a 20-year prison term for Humala and a stiffer sentence of 26 and a half years for Heredia. However, the court settled on equal 15-year terms for both.
Background on Ollanta Humala
Before stepping into politics, Humala served as a military officer and participated in combat operations against the Maoist Shining Path insurgents. He first gained public attention in 2000 after leading a failed rebellion against then-President Alberto Fujimori.
Humala made his first run for the presidency in 2006, aligning himself with Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez. Prosecutors claim that he received illicit campaign funding from Chávez during that time. His opponent, Alan García, criticized his alliance with Venezuela, urging Peruvians “not to let Peru turn into another Venezuela.”
After losing in 2006, Humala returned in 2011 with a more centrist political platform, emphasizing that his leadership would be modeled on the policies of Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rather than Chávez’s socialist approach. This shift in strategy contributed to his eventual victory in the 2011 presidential election.
Despite their convictions, both Humala and Heredia continue to maintain their innocence.
