A court in Peru has sentenced former President Ollanta Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, to 15 years in prison for laundering $3m received from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht and $200,000 from the government of then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Humala, 62, was taken into custody after the verdict was delivered on Tuesday and later jailed at a police station, but his 48-year-old wife requested asylum at the Brazilian embassy in Lima, according to Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Heredia was granted safe passage to travel to Brazil with her youngest son, the ministry said.
During his trial, which lasted three years following an investigation which kicked off in 2016, Humala decried the charges as political persecution. His lawyers plan to appeal Tuesday’s verdict.
Prosecutors alleged Humala received the illicit funds in his 2011 campaign against Keiko Fujimori, the other former president’s daughter, through Humala’s Nationalist
Humala, a retired military officer who led the Andean nation from 2011 to 2016, will likely carry out his sentence on a police base built specially to house Peru’s jailed leaders.
Credit:ALJAZEERA