MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala sentenced to 15 years in jail

Humala's ex-wife, Nadine Heredia, sought asylum at Brazil's Embassy in Lima

Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his ex-wife, Nadine Heredia, were sentenced to 15 years in prison for aggravated money laundering related to illicit funds used during the 2011 campaign. In both cases, their pretrial detention counts as time served. The couple denied all charges. Prosecutors had requested 20-year sentences.

While Humala was transferred to the Barbadillo prison to join fellow former Presidents Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo Terrones, Heredia sought asylum at the Brazilian Embassy.

The court also sentenced Heredia’s brother, Ilán, to 12 years, and others to lesser terms, dissolved the company Todograph, fined the Peruvian Nationalist Party, and ordered reparation payments to the State. An arrest warrant was issued for Heredia, and the defense plans to appeal.

Peru's National Superior Court determined that Humala and Heredia received illegal contributions from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht and the Venezuelan Government of then-President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013).

“The INPE guarantees the respect of his fundamental rights and the strict compliance of the penitentiary regime according to law,” Peru's National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) wrote on social media after Humala arrived at the detention center.

Other defendants convicted in this case included Mario Julio Torres Aliaga, who got 8 years. Meanwhile, Antonia Alarcón Cuba, Rocío Calderón, and Eladio Mego Guevara were handed down suspended 5-year prison sentences.

Heredia arrived at the Brazilian Embassy in Lima on Tuesday morning. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs the public that the Embassy of the Federative Republic of Brazil in Peru has announced that Mrs. Nadine Heredia Alarcón entered the Embassy this morning,” Itamaraty said in a statement. “Ms. Heredia has requested asylum in that country, in accordance with the provisions of the 1954 Convention on Diplomatic Asylum, to which Peru and Brazil are parties,” it added.

Odebrecht spent around US$ 35 million in bribes to Peruvian authorities.

The former president and his wife were tried and convicted by the 3rd Collegiate Court of the National High Court, chaired by Justice Nayko Coronado.