A Peruvian court on Monday annulled a money laundering trial against former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, in which she was accused of receiving allegedly illegal funds from a Brazilian and other local firms during previous election campaigns, alleging procedural flaws.
The daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori had been facing an oral trial since July last year, when the prosecution requested 30 years in prison for the leader of an influential right-wing political party with representatives in Congress.
The judge of the third criminal court, Mercedes Caballero, said in a hearing that Fujimori and other defendants were excluded from the trial in compliance with a recent ruling by the Constitutional Court, which excluded one of the defendants in the same case alleging that his right to freedom was violated. defense.
The case now returns to the stage of tax investigation and prosecution control if the situation warrants, according to the court.
The politician also faced charges of obstructing justice and leading a criminal organization that received contributions for her 2011 and 2016 electoral campaigns, according to the prosecutor’s office, which investigated her for almost a decade.
Keiko Fujimori, 49, has run three times for the presidency of the Andean country. His last electoral participation was in 2021 when he lost against the leftist Pedro Castillo, who was dismissed and arrested at the end of 2022 after illegally trying to dissolve the opposition-majority Congress.
Among those accused in the trial were former officials, businessmen and militants of the Fujimori Popular Force party, which would have been used to irregularly receive some 17 million dollars from various contributors, such as the Brazilian Odebrecht – which changed its name to Novonor – and the Peruvian financial holding company Credicorp, according to the investigations.
The origin of this money, used for political campaigns and for the Fujimori family’s own benefit, would have been hidden from the electoral authorities, the prosecution charged.
Albert Fujimori, his father, died in September months after being released from prison where he had served 16 years of a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses during his presidency, following a controversial humanitarian pardon.
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