Peru’s ex-President Humala released after court overturns Odebrecht-linked conviction
Peru’s former President Ollanta Humala was released from prison on Friday evening after the country’s Constitutional Court quashed his 15-year sentence for money laundering, a case linked to the sprawling Odebrecht corruption scandal. Humala, 64, left the prison in Lima at about 7:40 p.m. local time under police escort, with a crowd of supporters gathered to greet him.
Humala, who led Peru from 2011 to 2016, was the first former president to face trial in the Odebrecht case, which has also implicated three other ex-leaders — Alejandro Toledo, Martin Vizcarra, and Pedro Castillo. All four had been held in a special prison on a police base. Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, were convicted last year of receiving illegal campaign contributions from the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and from Venezuela’s government.
Speaking to reporters after his release, Humala denied the allegations. “We have been victims of political and judicial persecution,” he said. He insisted that he had “never received campaign contributions from either Venezuela or Brazil,” and added, “But they dragged us into a trial; they subjected us to a criminal proceeding because of our ideology.” His wife, who was also convicted, sought asylum in Brazil and remains there.
The Constitutional Court declared Humala’s sentence null and void in a ruling published Thursday, and a criminal court subsequently ordered his release. The decision drew a positive response from Peru’s new Foreign Minister, Carlos Espa, who called it “fair.” Espa serves in the government of right-wing President Keiko Fujimori, a political rival of the leftist Humala. Fujimori herself has faced legal proceedings over campaign contributions from Odebrecht and others, spending more than a year in pre-trial detention before those proceedings were annulled. Humala defeated Fujimori in a 2011 runoff to win the presidency.
The Odebrecht scandal stems from the Brazilian company’s admission in 2016 that it had paid $788 million in bribes to foreign leaders and officials to secure infrastructure projects across Latin America. The company agreed to pay $3.5 billion in penalties and acknowledged paying at least $29 million in bribes to Peruvian officials between 2005 and 2014. The case is considered one of the largest foreign bribery schemes in history, with repercussions across the region.
Humala’s release marks the latest development in Peru’s long-running political and judicial saga, which has seen multiple former leaders entangled in corruption allegations. The court’s decision has been welcomed by his supporters, while critics have expressed concern over the implications for accountability in corruption cases. As Humala returned home, where he said his mother-in-law and a child were waiting, the former president reiterated his innocence, framing his conviction as politically motivated.
