Peru’s ex first lady Nadine Heredia asks Brazil court to deny extradition to Peru

Salvador, Brazil — Former first lady of Peru Nadine Heredia has asked Brazil’s Supreme Court to block any extradition request, request for international imprisonment, transfer of her sentence, or any other measure that restricts her “freedom of movement,” according to local media reports. 

In April,  Heredia and her husband, former President Ollanta Humala (2011 to 2016), were convicted and sentenced by a Lima court to 15 years in prison for money laundering related to the massive Odebrecht corruption scandal. 

Brazil’s Ministry of Justice haven’t confirmed any pending requests regarding her extradition. 

In April, the former first lady flew to Brazil where an asylum request had been accepted by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who himself was convicted and jailed related to the regionwide construction kick back scandal. 

In the request reviewed by Brazil Reports, sent on Tuesday to Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffolli, who’s responsible for the case, the defense asks that all evidence obtained by the software platforms Drousys and MyWebDayB be annulled. The programs were used internally at Odebrecht to organize a bribery division called the Division of Structured Operations, running schemes between the construction conglomerate and governments across Latin America and Africa. 

Heredia’s lawyers argue that Brazil’s Supreme Court dismissed proof found on both sets of software in Brazil’s cases. 

The request also seeks to eliminate from the process testimonies of key former executives given to Peruvian prosecutors and which are being processed in the National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice. One testimony is from Marcelo Odebrecht, the company’s ex-CEO, who was sentenced to 19 years and four months in prison for the crimes of corruption, money laundering and criminal association. 

All evidence obtained by the testimonies, stated Heredia’s defense, was based on Drousys and MyWebDayB and therefore should be excluded.  The former CEO’s statements include questions about a spreadsheet registered as “Posição-Italiano”, which is confirmed to be linked to payments to Humala. 

The  testimonies also include one from Jorge Henrique Simões Barata, former managing director for Odebrecht in Peru. Barata’s statement was responsible for opening a series of criminal cases against businessmen and politicians. In 2023, he confirmed the Brazilian construction company sent money to the campaigns of Ollanta Humana and Keiko Fujimori between 2006 and 2011. 

Nadine Heredia and Ollanta were found guilty of illegally receiving US$ 3 million from Odebrecht for Ollanta’s campaign that elected him in 2011, in which the former first lady was allegedly directly involved.

This article was written by Maria Clara Matos on Brazil Reports and was republished with permission.

Featured image credit: Nadine Heredia via X.

The post Peru’s ex first lady Nadine Heredia asks Brazil court to deny extradition to Peru appeared first on Perú Reports.

المصدر: Peru Reports