Ex-Peruvian President Humala & Wife Get 15 years in Prison
The court found that they received illegal contributions from Hugo Chávez and Odebrecht to fund their election campaigns. Brazil grants asylum to Humala’s wife, and Peru provides a safe-conduct pass for her to travel.
HAVANA TIMES – Former Peruvian president Ollanta Humala was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 years in prison for money laundering, after the court found that he had received illicit contributions from former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and the Brazilian company Odebrecht to finance his 2006 and 2011 election campaigns. He was immediately arrested by the police and later transferred to the Barbadillo Prison.
His wife, Nadine Heredia, was also found guilty of the same crime and received a 15-year sentence for having directed those election campaigns. However, Humala’s wife, who had taken asylum at the Brazilian embassy and is now en route to that country, did not attend the sentencing hearing—which is subject to appeal—and connected virtually instead.
The court also determined that the civil reparation amount in this case will be 10 million soles (about 2.35 million euros).
The judge added that the full reading of the sentence will take place on April 29, but indicated that the court has seen “elements indicating the existence of a criminal organization” during these campaigns.
The former president will be held in Barbadillo Prison in Lima, known as the “presidents’ prison,” where former heads of state Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo are also serving their sentences, the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) confirmed on Tuesday.
Via its account on the social network X, the INPE stated that “the sentenced Ollanta Humala has been assigned to the Barbadillo penitentiary,” a facility located at the base of the National Directorate of Special Operations of the police.
“INPE guarantees the respect of his fundamental rights and the strict compliance with the prison regime according to the law,” added the prison authority.
After receiving the sentence, Humala spent several hours in a judicial holding cell before undergoing a legal medical examination and being transferred to the designated prison.
Barbadillo also houses Toledo (2001–2006), who was sentenced to 20 years and six months for collusion and money laundering, stemming from a multimillion-dollar contribution by Odebrecht to secure the construction of a segment of the Interoceanic Highway.
Castillo (2021–2022) is also being held there, facing trial for the failed coup attempt on December 7, 2022.
The first inmate of that prison was former president Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000), who was sentenced to 25 years for human rights abuses. He was pardoned by former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2017, released from prison, and died in 2024 at the age of 86.
The government of Brazil granted diplomatic asylum to the former first lady, and the Peruvian government provided her with a safe-conduct pass to travel to that country after being sentenced.
Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the government had provided the necessary guarantees for Heredia’s transfer, as well as for her son, Samir Humala, and had “issued the corresponding safe-conducts.” Both are currently traveling.
The Brazilian government requested their departure, invoking Articles V and XII of the relevant convention, which states that the country granting asylum may request the asylee’s departure to foreign territory, and the territorial state is obliged to immediately provide the necessary guarantees and the appropriate safe-conduct, except in cases of force majeure.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.