Peru judge orders 18 months in jail for former President Humala, wife

Lima, Jul 13 (EFE).- A judge on Thursday ordered former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia to serve 18 months in preventative custody ahead of a trial on charges that he received funds from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht during his successful 2011 election campaign. Prosecutors in Peru have requested the arrest of former President Humala who governed Peru between 2011 and 2016 and his wife Nadine Heredia on money laundering and conspiracy charges tied to a corruption scandal involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Judge Richard Concepcion Carhuancho ordered 18 months of pre-trial detention for the couple “for the crime of money laundering against the interest of the state.”

Humala, president 2011-2016, said the ruling “is a confirmation of abuse of power,” vowing on Twitter to face it head-on “in defence of our rights.”

Defence attorneys said the couple would immediately file an appeal. "This confirms abuse of power, which we will face in defense of our rights and the rights of all," Humala said on social network Twitter, as television showed images of the couple walking into a building of holding cells, escorted by police. Centrist ex-president Alejandro Toledo, believed to be in the United States, refused to turn himself in this year, after Concepcion ordered him jailed before a trial over allegations of having taken a $20-million bribe from Odebrecht.
A court of Lima orders 18 months of pre-trial imprisonment for former president Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia for alleged money laundering. Both have turned themselves in.